Vesta cases carried early friction matches safely in a pocket, the slightly concave body here helping the case sit flush against the body rather than poking out awkwardly. Scrollwork and foliage cover the surface in an Art Nouveau style, engraved rather than embossed, a treatment that suited the movement's flowing lines without needing the added weight of relief decoration.
The case and chain weren't made together. William Hair Haseler produced the vesta case, hallmarked for Birmingham in 1914, right at the start of the First World War, while the heavy sterling Albert curb chain is Victorian, hallmarked in 1902 and missing its original T-bar. Together they work as a wearable set, the chain doubling as a necklace given the missing bar, but they represent two separate pieces of silver history brought together rather than an originally matched commission.
