Vtge Wood Cigar Box Birdseye Maple w 3 Interior Trays Romeo Y Julieta 1920s Cuba

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Vtge Wood Cigar Box Birdseye Maple w 3 Interior Trays Romeo Y Julieta 1920s Cuba:
$122.50

Offered is a vintage, 1920s-30s era, wooden cigar box with metal hinges & front, sliding clasps. It was made in Habana, Cuba & comes with 3 wonderful, nested wood trays. Trays are easily lifted in & out with their silky, yellow cloth tabs on each end. Themaple woodison5sides of the box& is birdseye maple.

The box is in wonderful condition, with the exception of an aged, 1 9/16\" shallow crack lineon the top, towards the upper left corner. It really does not detract from the beauty of the piece. Box corners show a beautiful, sideways, upper part of a capital T shaped dovetailing & the trays havesquare shaped dovetailing, also marvelous!

The interior is clean& it has 4, individual, wooden, side supportpieces that strengthen the box even more. Hinges & frontlocks work fine & it closes snugly. You have to ever so slightly push inon the front slat, as you bring the top down to shut.

It measures 14 5/16\" long by 7 3/16\" wide. When closed, box heighth is about 4 3/32 \" (of which 1 1/16\" is the lid). There are some very minor, light surface scratches on top of the box,that would disappear with a gentle polishing.

The trays seem to have a thin,separate layer of wood onbottoms, all nicely held together, eachwith 6 tiny nails (3each on upper & lower side).

It weighs about 1 1/2 pounds - light but sturdy & well made. The top of box has an indented look to it.

It is well marked with the oval stamp into the interior lid, \"Romeo y Julieta De Alvarez y Garcia Habana (Spanish for Havana), along with \"Coronations de Luxe\" & \"CABINET SELECTION\".

Only 1 smallpart of the cigar stamp remains, but most of the NY City Customs sticker is on the side. It states \"Revenue Act of 1926\". On the base, there is the old U.S. Customs sticker, which has the Port of New York, a customs officer\'s stamp, date, & signature(hard to read, but possibly Nov. 14, year?). Sticker has listed the \"Orizaba\" as its importer / ship carrier. 1 frail piece of the customs paper (1/4 inch) on right side came off, but will include it in an envelope for you. I had lined it up on the right side for the photo of the underside.

If this box could talk, it would surely tell an interesting tale! I researched the whereabouts of the ship. It was a WW I U.S. military ship; then in the years between the world wars, it was used as a transport ship, under the Ward Line. It would do runs from NY City - Spain - Cuba runs. Katharine Hepburn once was a passenger on this ship in 1934. When the USA entered WW II, the ship again became a war ship & was actually damaged by a torpedo. After WW II, it went back to civilian & private use. Ship waslater sold to Brazil & was eventually scrapped. SoI estimated that theage of the boxis between 74-88 years old.

I am not an expert in wooden boxes, but send along any questions & will try to get the answer for you.

Shipping costs are the responsibility of the winning buyer; I accept Paypal as payment. Shipping weight is 5 pounds, 2 ounces. Payment is expected within 5 business days of sale\'s end.

Thanks for having a look at my sale.