This exquisite cigarette box portrays an Egyptian ibis delicately lifting a bouquet of forget-me-nots. The box’s top and sides are covers in friezes of swags of the flowers. The motif draws from the ancient symbolism of the blue lotus—opening each morning and closing at night—a sacred emblem of renewal and rebirth in Egyptian art. In France, the forget-me-not (myosotis) carried a tender emotional charge, exchanged between lovers and incorporated into stationery, lockets, and jewelry as intimate tokens of fidelity. By the late 19th century it had become a gentle yet widely understood emblem of heartfelt sincerity and remembrance, whether between romantic partners, families, or friends parted by distance or loss.
