I've found a handful of small wreaths (or ashtray holders) and a few picture frames made of intricately folded cigarette packs, but this is the first woven mat, and it is both an early example and a large one and really feels of a different ilk entirely. I think 1920s-30s, WW2 era latest. Thick and heavy and substantial, one gets from it the visceral sense of someone having indeed smoked their way through all of the packs of Lucky Strikes and Camels (and a few Chesterfields) from which it was woven. And the graphic play here between the silver foil and the red of the Lucky Strikes logo is especially great.
17 1/8" x 9 3/8". First photo is a composite showing front and back. Very striking, all the richer in hand, with overall general wear and aging; it is stable and sound, but one wants to take a little care handling it.
