1920's Dragon & Frog Silver Cigarette holder

This is a great example of the excess, prosperity and wild spirit of The Roaring 20's. This exuberant era had a mood of high spirits and a wide spread acceptance of new ideas and cultural trends. Young ladies on the precipice of adulthood that were against societal norms were called flappers. They set themselves apart from former aristocratic ways by wearing tight, slinky, low cut dresses and yards of pearl strands.The most prominent change was their high spirited behavior. Gone were the days of being escorted by a gentleman. These young ladies went out on the town on their own. They drove their own cars, danced alone or with whomever they chose. Champagne flowed and the new rage was smoking. Simple cigarettes soon had woman competing by smoking longer cigarette's. Soon, elegant long cigarette holders of bakelite made the scene. Not to be outdone, jeweled and precious metals appeared in holders as well as compacts to hold several cigarettes made by Cartier and other Haute Jewelry Houses. This is one of the more elaborate designs with a loop meant for the middle finger to go through while the pointer and ring finger balance it perfectly. The dragon and frog represent yin and yang, associating the moon and passivity and yang the sun and warmth. After taking smoke in, the lady could also remove the cigarette and blow the smoke through the dragon towards a person to send a "message". The holder is not stamped anywhere but it was acid tested as sterling silver.