Our Antique Cigar Press Vase is an original vintage wooden cigar mold, reworked at Bella Vista Flower Farm in Brenham, Texas, to hold 20 single stems in glass test tubes. Each one is one of a kind.
The story of the press
A century ago, molds like ours sat on workbenches and kitchen tables across the south of the Netherlands. In the Kempen region of Brabant, more than 650 small cigar factories came and went, and many families started at home with little more than a rolling knife, a glue pot and a wooden mold.
The work was shared. A beginner, the "bunch maker," rolled the filler leaves into a binder leaf and laid each bunch in a groove. The mold was closed and pressed so every cigar took the same shape, and then a skilled maker finished it with the fine outer wrapper leaf.
Molds like these were used in Texas too: at San Antonio's Finck Cigar Company, cigars were still rolled by hand and set in wooden molds in the 1930s. Ours came from a family workshop in Helmond, in the Netherlands.
A cigar maker at his bench with wooden molds, rolling knife and glue pot, probably at the Karel I cigar factory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, early 1900s. Photo: Nationaal Archief (CC0).
Each mold is made of two wooden halves that fit together, once lined up with small wooden pegs, and many carry a stamped maker's mark or number. Some held ten cigars, others twenty, laid side by side in their grooves. The wood tone, the worn edges and the markings are different on every one.
Anything that holds water can be a vase
Living this close to Round Top, we've learned to look twice at old things. That's the lesson of the cigar press: if you love an object and it can hold water, it can be a vase.
A garden on the hosting table
One stem goes in each tube, so every curve and bend shows. Mix heights, leave a few gaps, and let stems lean. It should feel like the garden, not a flower shop.
In October we fill it with cosmos from our field. As fall goes on, our heirloom mums take their place, one bloom from each variety, side by side. In spring it becomes a garden mix of larkspur, bright yellow and orange blooms, white lace flowers and bupleurum.
A spring garden mix of larkspur, yellow and orange blooms, white lace flowers and bupleurum in an Antique Cigar Press Vase at Bella Vista Flower Farm, Brenham, Texas.
Quick facts
- Holds: 20 single stems, glass tubes included
- One of a kind: each mold's origin, age and markings differ from the one pictured
- Price: $189 plus tax, pre-order, ready early November 2026
- Pickup: our Farm Store in Brenham or the Brazos Valley Farmers Market in Bryan on Saturdays
Questions
Do I need floral design experience?
No. One stem per tube. Use all 20, or just five or six for a lighter look.
How do I care for it?
Lift the tubes out to fill them, keep water off the wood, and keep it out of strong sun.
Written by Dana at Bella Vista Flower Farm in Brenham, Texas.
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