The 1980s Gucci Mesh Cigarette Case: A Small Object from the 1980s

Not every object in a fashion house's history is a bag or a garment. Gucci, like other houses of its kind, produced a range of small things for the pocket, the desk and the evening table. This cigarette case from the 1980s, in gold-tone metal mesh with a logo plaque on the front, belongs to that world of small, carefully made accessories.

A house of small goods

Gucci was founded in Florence in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, who had worked at the Savoy Hotel in London before returning to Italy to open a leather-goods business. Over the following decades the house grew through luggage, handbags and accessories, and its codes, the bamboo handle, the green-red-green Web and the horsebit, came from that world of leather and travel. Christie's notes the Web among the house's enduring signatures, a striped band that has appeared on bags, belts and small objects since the early 1950s.

By the 1980s the Gucci name appeared on a wide range of products. The Museum at FIT and other histories of the house describe that decade as one of family disputes and overexpansion, in which the name was spread across many categories and licences. Objects from those years vary in quality, and they are best judged one by one.

Metal mesh

The case is covered in gold-tone metal mesh, a flexible surface made of small linked elements that reflects light evenly and feels soft to the touch despite being metal. Mesh had long been used for evening bags and purses, and on a small case it gives a precious, textile-like finish to a rigid box.

On the front, a plaque carries the house's logo with the Web motif, and the case opens from the top. At 10 by 7 by 2.5 centimetres and 200 grams, it is a substantial object for its size, built on a sturdy box structure beneath the mesh.

The object

The Archivary describes the case as a Gucci gold metal mesh cigarette case of the 1980s, with a front logo plaque and an opening top. Its condition is recorded honestly: there are signs of use inside and out and scuffing on the inside, the overall condition is fair to good, and the top opens properly.

Those marks are part of the object's history. A cigarette case was carried daily and opened often, and the wear on its interior records that use. Today such cases are often kept for cards or small items, but their shape and proportions still reflect their original purpose.

Small objects and the history of a house

Small objects are easily overlooked in fashion history, which tends to focus on runway garments and famous bags. Yet they show how a house's name and codes travelled beyond clothing into everyday life. A cigarette case with the Gucci Web plaque, made in the decade when the name was everywhere, is evidence of that spread, and of the care that could still go into a modest piece.