Cigarette Box thumbnail 1
Cigarette Box thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Cigarette Box

1937-1939 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rectangular cigarette box of ivory and black urea formaldehyde. The base is fluted and is attached to the hinged lid. On the lid is a scene of semi-nude male and female figures, in classical dress and dancing and playing musical instruments. This is surrounded by a border of horns and tambourines.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Compression moulded urea formaldehyde
Brief description
Cigarette box; musicians in a classical scene; urea formaldehyde; Woody Woodfull for Streetly Manufacturing Company, Birmingham, about 1938
Physical description
Rectangular cigarette box of ivory and black urea formaldehyde. The base is fluted and is attached to the hinged lid. On the lid is a scene of semi-nude male and female figures, in classical dress and dancing and playing musical instruments. This is surrounded by a border of horns and tambourines.
Dimensions
  • Length: 11.7cm
  • Width: 8.4cm
  • Depth: 5.5cm
Style
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
'MADE IN ENGLAND' (Moulded on base.)
Object history
Fred Bulmer, a collector based in Leeds, Yorkshire, offered his collection of ‘plastic antiques’ to the V&A in late 1982. The Museum chose to purchase 59 objects from Bulmer the following year (for acquisition papers see MA/1/B3395). The objects were divided among the Museum’s collections according to object type: Furniture and Woodwork taking 26 objects (W.50 to 75-1983), Metalwork 18 objects (M.49 to 66-1984) and Ceramics and Glass 14 objects (C.41 to 54-1984).
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
p.58 Sylvia Katz, Classic Plastics (London, 1984)
Collection
Accession number
C.52-1984

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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