Art Deco Lighters: Toxic Glamour
The Art Deco style of the 1920s and ’30s pervaded design, from the Chrysler Building in Manhattan to the Grand Rex in Paris, but it wasn’t always on such a large scale. With increased mass production, everyday objects were also being marketed in the Machine Age aesthetic, including jewelry, watches, pocket mirrors, cameras, razors, and lamps. And then there were the lighters and cigarette cases to accessorize the newly fashionable toxic pastime of smoking. Before the Jazz Age, women smoking in public were vilified, but gradually the practice became acceptable, especially with advertising promoting it as glamorous. To complete the affectation, men and women could buy cases decorated with geometric designs in enamel, eggshell, and lacquer, as well as portable lighters, a relatively recent innovation. “Art Deco Collectibles: Fashionable Objects” from the Jazz Age by collectors Rodney and Diana Capstick-Dale, recently released by Thames & Hudson, devotes a whole chapter in its visual exploration of Art Deco design to the cases and lighters, as on this small scale, the graphic pop of the era was made accessible beyond the luxury class.
