Rare Victorian Silver & Enamel Bell's Asbestos Advertising Vesta Case

A rare Victorian silver and enamel advertising Vesta Case for Bell's Asbestos & Engineering Ltd, of bell shape with attached suspension ring and sprung hinged lid and striker to the base, the face enameled with a shipping buoy at sea named Asbestos.

By J. A & S, Birmingham, 1893.

Bell's Asbestos and Engineering Limited was founded in the late 1870s by John Bell, who pioneered the manufacture of engine packings and jointings using spun Canadian asbestos. Its head office moved from Southwark, London, to Slough in 1929, where it traded under the name Bestobell. By the 1970s it was the oldest surviving firm of its kind, producing a wide range of industrial products using asbestos and many other materials, and with numerous branches at home and overseas.

£1,250.00