Featured Sterling What Am I?

Hi folks, 2 Birks sterling pieces that have the same trim around them, so I assume they were part of a set (but maybe not). The coaster thing (that is what I've used it for) I've had for years, the urn I picked up a little while ago. The urn is just under 3"H and has the date letter for 1943, the coaster is 3 1/4" across. While toothpicks will fit in the urn, I think it is a cigarette holder, (they also fit inside) but what would the coaster thing be then? Not an ashtray as it has no indents for a cigarette, I can't see matches laying on it and there is no striker on it, but maybe? Or maybe I'm overthinking this and they don't go together, lol.
any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

Love it CX. I found a little sterling Birks bowl a few years ago.
"Henry Birks & Sons, a premier Canadian high-end jeweler founded in Montreal in 1879. Often compared to Tiffany & Co. for its craftsmanship."
Really good stuff.
The flagship store in Montreal-

 

Id guess smoking set.

 

great, thanks johnny so maybe I'm on the right track for them belonging together.

thanks bosko would be nice if they got Tiffany prices, lol

 

Yep. If memory serves... It's a little individual cigarette holder and ashtray. The kind of thing a hostess would provide at each place on a bridge table. Very possibly a wedding present with the bride's new surname monogram.

Debora

 

Other maker, but described as "Sterling Silver Cup and Saucer for cigarettes 1890"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/197973052/sterling-silver-cup-and-saucer-for

 

Wonder where the seller got the 1890 date? That's not an 1890 logo. (And wonder how the seller came up with an asking price of $999.99!)

Debora

 

I was wondering the same thing when I saw that logo
Hadn't noticed the price

 

ask whatever you want , nowadays.......... the higher the better .....

they'll keep it for a long time to come !!!!!!!!

 

Not an ashtray as it has no indents for a cigarette,....

a common misconception CX.....

 

I've seen very small individual sized ashtrays with no indents (but not lately, only from my parents old stuff). Always assumed it had something to do with balancing the cigs on a small tray. Which wasn't done, they were mostly used for dropping ashes and putting the cigarette out. Personally, I would not want someone to put out their cigarette on my sterling silver. I think in this case the tray may just be decorative under the urn.

I can only vaguely remember when people smoked at the dinner table (ick) or while eating (ick) and had tiny ashtrays. When cigs became more expensive, no one put out the urns with "complementary" cigs in them. DH's father used to send him to the drug store to buy individual cigarettes, like maybe 5 because they were less expensive. They sold them out of an open pack. I thought that was odd. Smoking Sets . . . from days gone by already.

 

Or to Sell with a nice Profit

Or to Wishfully Think you can Sell it for $ 999,99

 

And it's all bent up too! Did @pearlsnblume say that Make an Offer is now an option on Etsy? How about $9.99? LOL.

 

wonderful, thank-you for posting this Cheryl A bonus to now know the name of the border pattern.

I feel the same. I've been using this as a coaster, works well for that

 

Shamed to admit I didn't know the word gadroon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadrooning

Debora

 

Sorry, should have noted the ad was from 1947 - I have dozens of ads in my files from the 1940s-60s, with various form cigarette urns in silver, silverplate, pewter, aluminum, copper, glass, china, some from makers like Wedgwood, Fostoria, and Georg Jensen, etc. Occasionally the ashtrays, especially the slightly larger ones, were also suggested as coasters (as shown below) - the small ones are usually now sold as butter pats.





~Cheryl

 

Those weren't cheap at the time.

Debora

 

Now for the last question. What the heck is the initial?? I can never read these.