Many of the antique cheroot holders I use in my Pipe Series were made in the Victorian and Edwardian eras between 1837-1919. Although small pipes and cheroot holders were designed with women in mind, it is rare to find photos of women smoking since it was deemed undignified if not scandalous for the Victorians.

It is purely musing, but perhaps some of the women whose portraits are shown here owned cheroot holders and enjoyed using them. We know from history that some of these women were individualists and nonconformists...the mavericks of their time. I enjoy collecting images of women from this time period and am able to share a few here since copyright laws on them have run out. They inspire my imagination!