A late 19^th / early 20^th century Austrian (Czech) 900 standard silver and niello cigarette case, Olomouc circa 1910 by Franz Bibus

Of oblong form, push button release. The front with an engraved and nielloed depiction of blackcurrants with leaves reserved with vacant asymmetrical cartouches. The obverse with a nielloed pattern of trefoil tendrils. Gilt interior. Marked to each side with with town mark A8 (1872-1921) and makers mark FB, the push button with A8.

Length – 10.3 cm / 4.05 inches

Weight – 101 grams / 3.25 ozt

Franz Bibus & Sohn Company was founded by Franz Josef Bibus (1860—?), son of a master baker in Landskron. There he trained in the gold- and silversmithing craft. From 1883, he was active in Mährisch-Trübau where he married and where his son Carl Alois Franz Bibus was born in 1887. In 1917, Carl became the firm’s co-owner. The commercial name Franz Bibus first appeared in 1896. Initially, the company made gold and silver necklaces, eventually enlarging its assortment to include boxes of various shapes. After moving to the workshop on 16 Olomouc Street, which facilitated production on a larger scale, the firm’s range of articles expanded to comprise silverware and table utensils. Around 1900, some one-hundred employees worked for the company; in 1914, there were close to two hundred. At the time, the firm began manufacturing galvanized objects. In 1917, the company changed its name to Franz Bibus & Sohn. The firm specializing in the production of silver, nickel silver and galvanized items operated into the 1940s, becoming forced to sell the company. After World War II, the state administration merged all local workshops into a single state-owned enterprise named Sandrik.