Kensington House Antiques and Sterling SilverKensington House
Antiques

Victorian French Bronze Guillotine Figural Cigar Cutter

Victorian French Bronze Guillotine Figural Cigar Cutter


browse these categories for related items...
Directory: Antiques: Decorative Art: Metals: Bronze: Pre 1900: Item # 1210870
Kensington House Antiques
View Seller Profile
Kensington
Maryland
(301)942-0955

Guest Book
  
Visa MasterCard American Express Discover
$1200

A macabre bronze figural cigar cutter in the form of a guillotine. The perfectly detailed guillotine includes a movable “bascule” and “lunette”. On the full-size models, these were the portions to which the victim was strapped and tilted into the machine and the part with a hole that surrounded the neck to hold the head still. In this case, a cigar is laid on the bascule and the lunette closes around the very tip of the cigar. When the rope is released, the heavy blade drops, lopping off the tip which falls into the bucket underneath. The bronze elements are entirely hand-fashioned and are mounted on a simple mahogany base. Incidentally, cigar cutters, regardless of their shapes, are often called “guillotines” in France.

Origin: France, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, even the rope appears to be original. Size: 8” tall.