OTTOMAN TURKEY, 1876-1882

This box is closely related to the collection of snuff boxes and cigarette cases sold in Paris by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II(r.1876-1909) himself, in November and December 1911. The Sultan was known to be extremely fond of smoking cigarettes (Perles, Pierreries, Bijoux et objets d’arts précieux, Le tout ayant appartenu à S.M. le Sultan Abd-Ul-Hamid II, Paris, 1911), this sale contained several comparable gem set snuff boxes. The Sultan’s diamond set tughra is a commonly shared feature in this collection, such as on lot no. 243. But the smoking attributes of the Paris sale also displayed many different designs, including several variations on a theme with the Sultan’s initials, either in Arabic or Roman characters. The cigarette case No. 241 even bore a gem set design of the Baghdad-Berlin railway project. According to an accompanying note, our cigarette case left the collection in 1882, twenty-nine years before the Paris sale.