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A vesta case, or simply a “vesta”, is a small box made to house wax, or "strike anywhere",
match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
es. The first successful friction match appeared in 1826, and in 1832 William Newton patented the "wax vesta" in England. It consisted of a wax stem with embedded cotton threads and a tip of phosphorus. Newton named his matches after Vesta, the Roman goddess of fire and the hearth. Small containers to house these friction matches were introduced shortly afterwards (in the early 1830s), to guard against accidental combustion. In England these containers took their name from the term Newton used for his invention, and they became known as "vesta cases", "vesta boxes" or simply "vestas". In America the more prosaic yet more descriptive term match safe was chosen. There are three main forms of vesta cases: pocket vestas, table or standing vestas and “go to bed” vestas. Pocket vesta cases were the most popular form, and were often made to be suspended from a fob chain or an Albert chain. Table vestas were usually larger than pocket vestas and left in a handy position in the home, such as the kitchen or close to a fireplace. “Go to bed” vestas were often joined to a candle stick holder or had a holder for a single match.


Makers

They were made throughout the world including the United Kingdom, in the U.S.A., continental Europe, Japan and Australia. Important and notable English makers of vesta cases included silversmiths such as
Mappin & Webb Mappin & Webb is an international jewellery company headquartered in England, tracing its origins to a silver workshop founded in Sheffield in . It now has retail stores throughout the UK. Mappin & Webb has held Royal Warrant of Appointment (U ...
,
Sampson Mordan Sampson Mordan (c. 1790 – 9 April 1843) was a British silversmith and a co-inventor of the first patented mechanical pencil. During his youth, he was an apprentice of the inventor and locksmith Joseph Bramah, who patented the first elastic ink ...
,
Asprey Asprey is a United Kingdom-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, silverware, home goods, leather goods, timepieces, and books. With its flagship retail store located in Mayfair, London, Asprey is a luxury retailer for ro ...
& Co., William Neale & Sons, Elkington & Co., Saunders & Shepherd and William Hair Haseler, who partnered with Arthur Lasenby Liberty, the founder of
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
. Significant American manufacturers of match safes include Tiffany,
Napier Company (jewellery) The Napier Company is an American jewelry manufacturing company, and was one of the first modern corporations in the United States. The company is also known historically as a cutting-edge silver object manufacturer. History The Napier Company ...
, Wm. B. Kerr, Gorham, R. Wallace & Sons, Unger Brothers, Battin, Blackington, Whiting,
George Scheibler George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...
and Shreve & Co. In addition, one of the world’s most famous jewellers, Faberge from Russia, was known to design vesta cases. Not surprisingly, examples of Faberge vestas are rarely seen and are among the most expensive.
Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife gri ...
was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S one of the best known Scandinavian jewellers, also made vestas. A well known French jeweller (and politician),
Charles Murat Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
, made beautiful art nouveau silver vestas.
Christofle Christofle is a luxury French silverware and tableware company founded in Paris in 1830 by Charles Christofle. The company is known for having introduced electrolytic gilding and silver plating in France in 1842. The company was acquired in ...
was another important French silversmith who made vestas. In Germany, the still operating jeweller Gebruder Kuhn made beautiful art nouveau vestas. In Australia, Kalgoorlie jeweller George Addis, well known for making gold jewellery, was also known for making vestas using sea bean pods.


Designs

There are many different shapes and decorations. As well as plain and decorated square, oblong and round cases, many novelty shapes have been recorded; silver, brass or white metal pigs with hinged heads were popular, as were vesta cases in the form of Mr Punch, hearts, skulls, books, musical instruments (often violas), owls, boots and shoes, bottles, ladies' legs and so on. Sporting decorations were common, especially golf and cricket. As were hunting scenes and
armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coat of arms, coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the m ...
decorations. They were also made in a wide range of materials, including silver,
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
, tin,
gunmetal Gun metal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze – an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc. Proportions vary but 88% copper, 8–10% tin, and 2–4% zinc is an approximation. Originally used chiefly for making cannon, ...
,
nickel silver Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver, argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, or alpacca is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver ...
,
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, bone,
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
and early plastics such as
tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...
and
bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...
. The more unusual materials included leather,
wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
, horn, ceramics (usually for table vestas) and the sea bean seed from
Entada gigas ''Entada gigas'', commonly known as the monkey-ladder, sea bean, cœur de la mer or sea heart, is a species of flowering liana in the pea family, Fabaceae of the Mimosa subfamily, which is often raised to family rank (Mimosaceae). They are nati ...
commonly known as the monkey-ladder, sea bean, Cœur de la Mer or Sea Heart. Although many were made of inexpensive materials (most often brass or nickel silver),
sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...
was perhaps the common material, especially in England. Wealthier users often carried vestas made of precious
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
s, e.g. gold, or enameled versions. More expensive vestas often had a gold wash interior to prevent corrosion by the chemically active match heads. A distinguishing characteristic of vesta cases is that they have a ribbed surface, usually on the bottom, for lighting the matches. Some vestas incorporated a cigar cutter or a small knife blade. Pocket vestas and sovereign cases were sometimes combined into the one item, as were vesta cases and stamp holders. Decorations were often engraved into metal vestas (with floreate patterns the most common), though other techniques were sometimes used, including repoussé and chasing,
guilloché Guilloché (), or guilloche (), is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name. Engine turning m ...
,
engine turning Engine turning is a form of ornamental turning. The finishing technique may use lathes or engines to produce a pattern. Aluminium is often the metal chosen to decorate. The technique has been used in various industries, including aircraft and doc ...
,
cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technology, ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inla ...
, cold-painting,
enamelling Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word ''vitreous'' comes ...
and
niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is push ...
. Many vestas had cartouches in a central position on the front for the engraving of initials etc. Promotional vestas were sometimes produced by different companies, for example, the
Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...
company produced a brass razor blade case with a ribbed bottom that could be used as a vesta case after the razor blades had been used, and
Veuve Cliquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and ...
produced a vesta in the shape of a champagne bottle. Some vestas were produced as mementos for tourists and others were produced to commemorate important events, such as the death of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
.


Collecting

Vesta cases are highly collectable and can still to be found in a vast array of shapes, sizes and materials. Prices vary considerably depending on a broad range of factors, including the material of manufacture, maker, condition, age, design, rarity and subject matter. Because of their collectability and the prices that some forms can command, fakes and replicas can be found, sometimes even in reputable antique shops.


References


External links

{{commons category, Vesta cases
International Match Safe Association and Museum



Match Safe collection at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Antiques Matches