At first we had no idea what the purpose of this box was. We contacted Alan Marlowe who is an expert on Chinese Export Silver and even he was a bit confused. His feeling was that it is a cheroot case. Cheroots were a kind of short cigars. Alan has one in his collection which has the same oval shape but has a hinged lid. The oval cut-out at the base of the cover of our piece to enable the inner section to be pulled out by thumb and finger was something which he had noted on English cigar and cheroot cases made of leather. This cheroot case has a scene with people in a landscape on one side and two cranes and bamboo, both symbols of Longevity, on the other. The case is marked with the initials of a yet unknown maker 'MH'. According to Alan Marlowe in his book 'Chinese Export Silver', this mark is rare. And in the Chait collection is a snuffbox with an identical mark which, based on stylistic details, may be dated to the early 19th century and hence made in Canton. Our cheroot case came from Singapore in 2009. Length 8 cm. Width 5.5 cm. Depth 2.8 cm.