If, like me, you love to burn fancy candles around the house and you’re a hopeless devotée of Downton Abbey, Upstairs, Downstairs, and the entire Merchant-Ivory oeuvre, you should know about these matches from Penhaligon’s.
According to this most British of all perfume houses, the packaging for these matches is inspired by the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Brighton is an English seaside resort town, and Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence designed by architect John Nash in 1815.
Penhaligon’s matchbox incorporates details of the palace’s Indian-inspired dome and minarets, as well as a palm tree from the garden and some floral ornamentation.
This box of 35 10-centimeter matches is sold for $10; a larger decorative tin of 290 extra-long, 28-centimeter matches is available for $45.
Talk about small luxuries!
Images: product photo via the Penhaligon’s website; Brighton—Royal Pavilion Panorama [cropped], via Wikimedia Commons.
TINSEL CREATION 
Those are luxurious! Thank you for the link this was a good “down the memory lane” for me. I had to write a paper about this structure. :D
What an interesting topic. There must be a lot to say about this building — its design, its context, its colonialism…!
Well, after I saw a $300+ wax candle (regular one, not scented) from Missoni $10 box of matches doesn’t surprise me.
Okay, *that* is ridiculous!!
If you’re curious, take a look http://undinaba.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/loeil-du-vert/ :)
Oh, it does *look* cool. It’s a design object! Still… that price is crazy. Thanks!