DAY 10: A Duel Over a Cigarette Case

Faberge enamel cigarette case, St.Petersburg 1890

Finally, a post about men's fashions.

Yes, women smoked cigarettes in the Gilded Age, and Consuelo Mandeville liked to flaunt her Cuban heritage by smoking cigars, but few women actually carried their own cigarettes--they relied on gentleman to proffer the vice, with a deft hand drawn from an inner coat pocket.

Women loved to give cigarette cases to the favorite men in their lives, because the precious objects were carried next to a man's heart. A gentleman could never own too many--different cases suited different moods, different times of day, different attire, even different love affairs. One reason the great Russian Court jeweler, Faberge, opened a shop in Bond Street during the Gilded Age is due to the fad for exchanging exquisite jeweled and enameled accessories, popularized by the royal sisters, Queen Alexandra and Czarina Minnie.

Which brings me to this extraordinary story of one case in particular. Diamonds and enamel the color of lapis lazuli, created by Faberge, it belonged to Bertie--Prince of Wales, and King Edward VII.

The case was a 1908 gift from Alice Keppel, Bertie's last mistress. (That's a potential book title, by the way--The Last Mistress.) 

According to notes from the Royal Collection, where the cigarette case is held, it's a consummate example of Faberge's Art Nouveau style. Of course. But what I notice is the ubiquitous symbol of the Gilded Age and in particular the Marlborough House Set--the ouroboros, or snake devouring its own tale. Recall the tattoo of the same symbol on Jennie's left wrist, and the constant serpent theme in the era's jewelry. The ouroboros was a symbol of eternity, spiritual renewal, or eternal love--something a mistress would want to express.

After Bertie's death in 1910, Queen Alexandra returned the cigarette case to Alice Keppel as a memento. Alice passed it back to Queen Mary in 1936, ensuring it remained in the Royal Collection.

I have to wonder...did the duel over this case--Alix banishing it from Buckingham Palace and Alice returning it--represent a tug-of-war over the importance of each woman in Bertie's life? 

Here, some other notable examples of that classic male accessory, the cigarette case.

Silver and enamel pictorial case,
4th Artel, Moscow, 1908

Silver, gold and sapphire gem case, 1901
Zodiac symbol of Sagittarius, by
Paulding Farnham, Tiffany & Co.

And a few more:

Faberge, 1905, Moscow
enamel, mother-of-pearl, gold, diamonds, rubies

enamel case, possibly Russian, 1905, courtesy Sotheby's

Faberge, parcel-gilt silver and champleve enamel,
St. Petersburg, 1895

John T. Curran, Tiffany & CO., 1893,
from the Chicago Columbian Exposition.
Sterling silver, enamel and nephrite

DAY 31: The Serpent in Jennie's Garden

1880s enamel and jeweled snake bracelet/necklace, 1stdibs.com

Snakes were everywhere in the Gilded Age. Just as edgy an ornament then as they feel today, serpents were embraced by Victorian women for the decorous reason that they symbolized eternal life--but in a far different manner, one assumes, than the devout image of an angel.

Women wore them most often as bracelets, twining up the arm, and they were as ubiquitous as the multi-pointed diamond stars Jennie so often wore in her hair and on her bodice. 

1870s woven gold snake bracelet, 1stdibs.com

Even Queen Alexandra, picture here at her son George's wedding to Princess May, has one plainly visible wrapped around her long left glove. What distinguished one snake from another was its costliness--those studded with diamonds and precious stones were cherished. 

1880s woven gold and jeweled serpent bracelet, 1stdibs.com

Snake hatpin, with diamonds and freshwater pearl.

Jennie took the fashion a step further: she is believed to have had her wrist tattooed with a twining serpent while voyaging in the Far East in 1894. No picture of her ink--supposedly an ouroboros, or serpent devouring its own tail, an ancient symbol of eternity--has survived; but its existence appears to have been common knowledge. Members of the Marlborough House Set followed the Prince of Wales's example--he had tattooed his chest with multiple Greek crosses while traveling the Empire, and his sons also acquired them on their Grand Tours. Jennie was enduring a protracted turning point in her life during her travels in 1894, as her husband was slowly dying, and may have found the tattoo a promise of hope for her unknown future. 

--Or at least, that's how I've chosen to depict the episode in That Churchill Woman.

I imagine Jennie's tattoo was discreet and elegant, circling her left wrist, and possible to disguise when she chose with a piece of actual jewelry. Here's a modern interpretation of the symbol, tattooed on a woman's wrist below.

For my own part, I'll stick with washable ink transfers, available on Etsy!

For more images from THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN, visit the  Pinterest board behind the novel.