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A vesta case, or simply a “vesta”, is a small box made to house wax, or "strike anywhere", . The first successful friction match appeared in 1826, and in 1832 William Newton patented the "wax vesta" in England. It consisted of a wax stem with embedded cotton threads and a tip of phosphorus. Newton named his matches after Vestal Virgin, the Roman goddess of fire and the hearth. Small containers to house these friction matches were introduced shortly afterwards (in the early 1830s), to guard against accidental combustion. In England these containers took their name from the term Newton used for his invention, and they became known as "vesta cases", "vesta boxes" or simply "vestas". In America the more prosaic yet more descriptive term match safe was chosen.
There are three main forms of vesta cases: pocket vestas, table or standing vestas and “go to bed” vestas. Pocket vesta cases were the most popular form, and were often made to be suspended from a fob chain or an Albert chain. Table vestas were usually larger than pocket vestas and left in a handy position in the home, such as the kitchen or close to a fireplace. “Go to bed” vestas were often joined to a candle stick holder or had a holder for a single match.
They were also made in a wide range of materials, including silver, brass, tin, gunmetal, nickel silver, gold, bone, ivory and early plastics such as tortoiseshell and bakelite. The more unusual materials included leather, wood, horn, ceramics (usually for table vestas) and the sea bean seed from Entada gigas commonly known as the monkey-ladder, sea bean, Cœur de la Mer or Sea Heart. Although many were made of inexpensive materials (most often brass or nickel silver), sterling silver was perhaps the common material, especially in England. Wealthier users often carried vestas made of precious , e.g. gold, or vitreous enamel versions. More expensive vestas often had a gold wash interior to prevent corrosion by the chemically active match heads.
A distinguishing characteristic of vesta cases is that they have a ribbed surface, usually on the bottom, for lighting the matches. Some vestas incorporated a cigar cutter or a small knife blade. Pocket vestas and sovereign cases were sometimes combined into the one item, as were vesta cases and stamp holders.
Decorations were often engraved into metal vestas (with floreate patterns the most common), though other techniques were sometimes used, including repoussé and chasing, guilloché, engine turning, cloisonné, cold-painting, enamelling and niello. Many vestas had cartouches in a central position on the front for the engraving of initials etc.
Promotional vestas were sometimes produced by different companies, for example, the Gillette company produced a brass razor blade case with a ribbed bottom that could be used as a vesta case after the razor blades had been used, and Veuve Cliquot produced a vesta in the shape of a champagne bottle. Some vestas were produced as mementos for tourists and others were produced to commemorate important events, such as the death of Queen Victoria.
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