Winston S. Churchill Presentation Cigar.

“I DRINK A GREAT DEAL. I SLEEP A LITTLE, AND I SMOKE CIGAR AFTER CIGAR": Exceptionally rare unsmoked Winston S. Churchill cigar presented to the Churchill family governess, Mary Dorgan

Winston S. Churchill Presentation Cigar.

CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Item Number: 117337

Exceedingly rare unsmoked La Aroma De Cuba cigar presented by Winston S. Churchill to the Churchill family governess, Mary Dorgan, the Irishwoman who provided domestic help to the Churchill family through the 1940s and into the 1950s. Framed with an original photograph of Winston S. Churchill smoking another of his favorite La Aroma De Cuba cigars. Accompanied by a rare original photograph of Churchill’s wife, Clementine, inscribed on the mount to Mary Dorgan, ‘To Mrs. Dorgan with thanks for your help and good wishes Clementine Churchill 1950″, a pass to the Churchill’s room in the Palace of Westminster House of Commons also from Dorgan’s collection, and a photograph of Dorgan with Winston and Clementine’s daughter,  Sarah. Winston S. Churchill and Clementine Hozier met at a dinner party in 1908 and after only a few months of correspondence, Winston wrote to Clementine’s mother, Lady Blanche Hozier, requesting consent for their marriage. On September 12th 1908, the two were wed at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, he more than a decade older than she and already a seasoned Parliamentarian. The Churchills had five children: Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Marigold, and Mary and their marriage was close and affectionate despite the stresses of public life throughout Churchill’s political career. In fine condition. Matted and framed, the entire piece measures 22.5 inches by 16.25 inches. Exceedingly rare with exceptional provenance.

Throughout the majority of his political career, Winston S. Churchill was inseparable from his cigars, there are few informal photographs that show him without one. Churchill’s love of cigar smoking began with a visit to Havana in November of 1895 and led him to develop relationships with a number of regular suppliers of Cuban cigars, his favorites being Romeo y Julieta and the now-defunct La Aroma de Cuba. Churchill was known to stock between 3,000 and 4,000 cigars, mainly Cuban, in a room adjacent to his study in his country home in Kent, Chartwell Manor. As one of his valets, Roy Howells, wrote in his biography Simply Churchill, "It took me a little while to get used to the fact that in two days his cigar consumption was the equivalent of my weekly salary.” The first ‘Winston S. Churchill’ banded cigars were produced by New York businessman Samuel M. Kaplan, a great supporter of Churchill who resolved to keep the Prime Minister supplied with Cuban Cigars after his historic stand against Nazi Germany. Kaplan’s first gift was a batch of La Coronas bearing the Churchill band delivered to Churchill at the British Embassy in Washington. Churchill also received gifts in the form of cigars from the Cuban government, Cuban patron Antonio Girauder, and tens of thousands of well-wishers. British importers Peter and David Knight received consent from the Churchill Estate in the late 1950s to begin production of the Winston S. Churchill brand cigar, which was contracted to Romeo y Julieta of Havana and remains a popular brand to this day.

We're sorry, this item has sold.

Ask a Question SHIPPING & GUARANTEE