ALFRED DUNHILL (BRITISH 1872-1959): An ‘Aquarium’ table lighter, circa 1950s, four lucite panels, each deeply engraved in reverse intaglio technique and hand-painted to create a three-dimensional effect, the front panel depicting a fish in shades of pink and grey, the reverse with three small fish, with rocky waterbed and water plants on a blue ground, base stamped ‘DUNHILL LIGHTER, MADE IN ENGLAND’

8 h x 10 w x 5 d cm

Notes: Dunhill Aquarium Lighters are miniature works of art that first appeared in 1949 and were made until 1959. They were a luxury functional object aimed at the wealthy and notable owners and collectors of Dunhill Aquarium Lighters were Sir Winston Churchill, the IT couple of post-war Britain Norah Docker and husband Sir Bernard and most recently Timothy Oulton.

The lighters were made from lucite, characterized by its transparency, durability, and resistance to yellowing. The panels that formed the lighters were hand carved with reverse intaglios using dentist tools and drills.

The panels were then painted and applied to the lighters’ bodies in four distinct sections. All the lighters were hand carved and painted so each one is unique. The main artist on many of the early lighters was Ben Shillingford, and later the husband and wife team of Margaret and Allan Bennett. They worked out of their home on the south coast, and were soon producing about a dozen lighters a week. Margaret would send her watercolour and pencil designs to Dunhill for approval, and Allan would then use dentist tools to carve the design, which Margaret would then paint.