French made silver ‘Club’ table lighter by Dunhill, circa 1928. Engraved with patent number, 'Alfred Dunhill Paris', and stamped with French silver marks. Has engraved entwined cipher.
Dimensions: 14.5 cm/5⅝ inches (height) x 4 cm/1⅝ inches(width) x 1.3cm/½ inch (depth).
In 1926 the ‘Club’ or 'Room' lighter became the first table lighter to appear in a Dunhill catalogue. It remained the best selling table lighter for Dunhill until the appearance of the 'Giant'.
Dunhill opened its Paris shop at 15, Rue de la Paix in 1924. It was the first Dunhill shop to stock gift items and fashion accessories. Making its mission to sell the most exquisite products it could bring together. Glass, China, and lacquer ware. Writing instruments and watches. Men's ties, belts, slippers, and fragrances. For ladies, there were scarves, handbags, and jewellery. In fact, for the first fifteen years of its existence, it made its reputation by focusing on elegantly creative inventions and ornaments, even more so than Dunhill's London shops, who had an excellent trade in tobacco products.
This situation was brought about because the French government, anxious to preserve its tobacco monopoly, refused to grant Dunhill a license to sell tobacco. Dunhill thus leant in to its other specialties, accessories for it's elegant clientele. The inability to sell tobacco did not, however, prevent Dunhill Paris from selling items relating to tobacco, and the Dunhill lighters of the 1920s and 1930s boasted the height of technology and efficiency.
Bibliography:
Alfred Dunhill. One Hundred Years and More by Michael Balfour The Dunhill Petrol Lighter. A 'Unique' Story by David Blei and Luciano Bottoni Swan Songs by Réginald-Jérôme De Mans
