Antique Albo Silver NCR Co Reg Cigarette Case, Hand-Engraved Floral and Leaf Spray, HCB Monogram, Dated March 18 1903, Edwardian, Damage Present

Someone marked a date on this. March 18, 1903.

The front face of this silver-plate cigarette case is covered entirely in hand-engraved decoration: starflower and clematis blooms with curling stems and fine leaf sprays worked across every surface, leaving only a central oval cartouche reserved for the personal. Inside that oval, a script monogram in flowing cursive, HCB, and beneath it the date: March 18 1903. No salutation. No occasion named. Just the initials and the day, which is often the most affecting kind of inscription.

The case was made by N.C. Reading & Co. of Birmingham, England, trading under their registered Albo Silver trademark, first registered c.1886. Reading & Co. were known principally for Albert watch chains, vesta cases, and small accessories of the same quality: white metal alloy with a heavy silver cladding, built to last and to be carried. A cigarette case in Albo Silver is a less common form from this maker, and the 1903 date places it seventeen years into the trademark's production life, firmly in the Edwardian period.

The case predates the First World War. It was already someone's pocket object when the Edwardian era was still new, carried through a time that would look almost unrecognisably different from our own within a decade. The reverse is plain and undecorated, gently curved for the pocket, with denting present to the lower portion.

Marked to the interior rim of both halves: ALBO SILVER NCR Co REG. The interior is bare metal throughout, tarnished and spotted with age, with the original elasticated retainer straps present but heavily degraded. No lining remains.

The Particulars:

• Maker: N.C. Reading & Co., Birmingham, England, trading as Albo Silver, trademark registered c.1886
• Type: Cigarette case, rectangular, silver-plate on white metal alloy
• Date: Inscribed March 18 1903, Edwardian
• Exterior front: All-over hand-engraved floral and leaf spray, starflower and clematis blooms, reserved oval cartouche with HCB script monogram and date
• Exterior reverse: Plain, undecorated, denting present to lower portion
• Interior: Bare metal, tarnished and spotted, degraded elasticated retainer straps, no lining remaining
• Marks: ALBO SILVER NCR Co REG to interior rim of both halves
• Condition: Denting to reverse, tarnishing throughout, retainer straps degraded. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.

A small utilitarian relic with one date pressed into its surface and no further explanation offered.

Arrives tucked inside its own treasure coffin and carefully wrapped as a vault relic, ready for gifting or keeping.