In the 19th century many everyday personal objects became elements of social distinction linked to fashion. The cigarette case was an object, mostly used by men, that was continuously displayed in public.

The Museum preserves a collection of more than two hundred and fifty cigar boxes with a wide variety of materials and techniques: embroidered or painted cloth, embossed leather, checkered, engraved mother-of-pearl, lacquered wood, chiseled metal, tinted straw and enamel.

The motifs represented are also very diverse: amorous, decorative, historical, landscape, mythological, with relevant characters, and even with sexual scenes hidden inside seemingly white cigarette cases. Some were conceived as souvenir for the tourists of the time, with outstanding views and buildings of the main European cities, such as London, Paris, Rome or Venice, and of the great universal exhibitions that were held there.