Silver Box, Tommaso Alberto Vittorio of Savoy-Genova, circa 1922

Table cigarette box in solid silver, octagonal in shape, belonging to S.A.R. Thomas of Savoy-Genova. In the center of the lid, in fact, there is his crowned monogram in royal blue enamel with small details in red enamel, while the four shorter sides are adorned with Savoy knots also enamelled in royal blue.

This important silver box was created and signed by the Master Goldsmith Mario Buccellati.

Dimensions approximately 24cm x 10cm x 3.5cm.

Tommaso Alberto Vittorio of Savoy-Genova (Turin, 6 February 1854 – Turin, 15 April 1931) was a member of the House of Savoy, belonging to the Savoy-Genova branch, and an Italian admiral. He was Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Italy, from 1915 to 1919. Dedicated to sporting life, Tommaso was destined for a career in the Royal Navy and attended the naval school in Genova.

In 1873 he visited Japan, with the rank of ensign.

From 31 March 1879 to 20 September 1881, with the rank of frigate captain he went around the world in command of the corvette Vettor Pisani, an Italian warship on its third ocean campaign; during the crossing he was promoted to the rank of captain. He became admiral in 1901.

On 15 April 1883 he married, at Nymphenburg Castle in Munich, Isabella of Bavaria (1863-1924), daughter of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria and Amalia Filippina of Bourbon-Spain.

On 25 May 1915, upon Italy's entry into the First World War, Vittorio Emanuele III decided to move from Rome to the front, entrusting part of his royal functions to Thomas, appointing him lieutenant general of the kingdom for the occasion. The position, however, was almost exclusively honorific and did not involve an effective exercise of power by the Duke of Genova.

However, in that period, the royal decrees were called lieutenant decrees and bore, rather than the king's signature, that of Prince Thomas. The lieutenant was also called to directly deal with the emergency caused in central Italy by the Avezzano earthquake, which occurred a few months earlier, on 13 January 1915. He remained in office until 6 July 1919.

Tommaso died in Turin in 1931. He rests in the royal crypt of the Superga basilica, on the heights of the Piedmontese capital. His eldest son Ferdinando succeeded him in the ducal title.