Trivia

OK, this might be an indication that my Villa-Lobos obsession has crossed some sort of line. This is a Maguey for cigar belonging to Heitor Villa-Lobos, from the collection of the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro. Maguey is Agave americana, the century plant. It's a source of fibre, so perhaps this is what Villa's cigar holder is made of. It's pretty rare to see a picture of Villa-Lobos without his faithful cigar.

Photo: João Lima

You can see Villa-Lobos is using a cigar holder in this marvellous portrait by Sabine Weiss.

From the same collection: a gold-plated cufflink which belonged to Francisco Mignone.

Photo: João Lima

You can now go about your regular business...