French Art Deco grey agate cigarette box / vide poche

About this piece

A French Art Deco table box in agate, rectangular, with a bevelled lid that lifts clean away — the stone itself grey, shot through with veins of blue and yellow, so it reads differently depending on which corner catches your eye. Agate's move from jewellery box to tabletop was one of the quieter design shifts of the Deco period: a material prized for centuries in small hardstone work, suddenly scaled up so its colour and pattern could be read at a glance rather than squinted at.

The pearly translucence shifts with the light, which is rather the point of choosing agate over anything more predictable — no two boxes, or even two sides of this one, quite match. It was cut to hold cigarettes, though these days it's just as likely to end up guarding keys, loose change, or whatever else accumulates in a pocket by evening. Set it on a side table and let it do the job vide-poches have always done — collecting the day's clutter with rather more style than a saucer manages.

Condition notes

Great vintage condition. Few small chips, mostly along one outer corner.