"Shell" Cigar box

Majolica, earthenware mass-produced using molds and hand painted with brightly colored lead- glazes, was popular in America in the 1870s and ‘80s, a phenomenon that became known as the "majolica craze." Its imaginative forms, elaborately modeled shapes, and brightly painted decoration fulfilled the American middle-class desire for aesthetically minded but affordable ceramics. Following majolica’s origins in the pottery region of Staffordshire and the British domination of the market, American manufacturers, often immigrants from England, began to produce their own wares and supply local demand.



Griffen, Smith & Hill of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was one of the most prolific and successful American manufacturers of majolica. Their line of majolica, "Etruscan Majolica," was marked by brilliant pastel colors and crisp modeling. The cigar box is in the "shell" design, part of a very popular line of shell and seaweed tableware. The soft pink and vibrant green coloring, as well as the crisp and delicate lines make this pattern one of Griffen, Smith & Hill’s most impressive. The cigar box is a most original interpretation of the pattern, due to the scallop shells around the edge of its lid, and the three shells in the center of its lid which were meant to act as the match holder, striker, and ashtray.