Burmese Decorative Boxes

Beautiful handcrafted antique tinned copper decorative octagonal betel box with with lid, handle and brass latch. The metal is delicately and int...

A antique Victorian era English campaign style brass bound mahogany portable lap desk / writing slope with nicely aged patina. circa 1850 Commonly used by military officers in the f...

This is a good example of a traditional Japanese Hokai shell storage box for the Kai-awase game. This box is well-detailed in chased brass appliques and makie. The box is in overall ...

A complete handmade copper and bronze antique Betel Nut Paan-daan box with beautiful patina. A quick way to add texture, character, color and rustic elements. Born in India during the mid 19th century, in circular form featuring hand hammered and engraved floral and foliate relief decoration, top lid with handle, can be locked with a padlock, the top opening to incised circular lift tray, revealing six hammered storage jars of varied sizes, all with corresponding tops. Betel leaf, and various herbs/spices remnants present, each incised on the tops and sides. Can be used as a portable spice/herb rack, ingredient storage, tobacco, incense, carry and organize arts and crafts, table/desk...

Antique handmade Italian jewelry box in wood lined with silk velvet. It has beautiful scalloped sides which are smooth as silk to the touch. The box has a hinged lid which also is po...

Antique Coromandel and Brass Bound Campaign Humidor. The cigars depicted are for illustrative purposes only.

Beautiful antique porcelain jewelry box. Signed " France Limoges" at the bottom. Limoges is a city in France that is known as the capital of ...

This is a stylish antique Victorian oak brass and cedar lined tabletop cigar humidor circa 1860 in date. The rectangular box features a lift out tray and adjustable divisions with sunken handles to the sides and a hinged lid with a central brass shield. Complete with the original Bramah lock and key. It would make a beautiful gift to any connoisseur of fine cigars. Condition: In excellent condition. As an antique items, the humidor shows signs of use commensurate with age, these minor condition issues are mentioned for accuracy and, as seen in the accompanying photographs, it displays beautifully. Dimensions in cm: Height 19.5 x Width 44 x Depth 29 Dimensions in inches: Height 8 inches x Width 1 foot, 5 inches x Depth 11 inches Humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity that is used to store cigars, cigarettes, orpipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors. Humidors can be used to store other goods for which a certain level of humidity is desirable; the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team stores game balls in a large humidor at their home stadium, Coors Field, to counteract the effects of Denver's high altitude and generally low humidity. Humidors of all sizes use hygrometers to keep track of the humidity levels. Classification of humidors Walk-in humidor - most common in cigar bars or stores. One room is built as or converted to a humidor where all the cigars are stored. Cabinet humidor - usually placed on the floor as a piece of furniture. Typically holds 1000-5000 cigars. Table humidor - often quite heavy, though portable in theory, it's usually kept in one location. Capacity ranges from three hundred to a few thousand cigars. It usually comes with a polished wood exterior, marble, leather or combination of exotic elements, and glass top. Personal humidor - semi-regular cigar smokers will sometimes keep a small humidor in their homes for personal storage, special events, or aesthetic characteristics of the humidor itself . Usually contains 20-75 cigars. This may also be known as a "Desktop Humidor". Travel humidor - portable and made for carrying cigars enough for the outing or event, usually 2 to 10 cigars. Oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus - Latin "oak tree" having approximately 600 extant species. Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm3, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content. It also has very appealing grain markings, particularly when quartersawn. Oak wood is very durable, easy to maintain and resistant to wear and tear which is why it can be easily handed to the next generations if taken well care of. Oak wood virtually lasts forever and you can still admire oak furniture in museums and palaces even if it was made many centuries ago. Oak has been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior panelling of prestigious buildings such as the debating chamber of the House of Commons in London and in the construction of fine furniture. Bramah is London's oldest security company. Established at 124 Piccadilly, London in 1784, and today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex. Bramah made their first lock in 1784 and the patent was awarded in 1787. The designer was Joseph Bramah. Joseph Bramah was a leading inventor of the industrial revolution, patenting over 18 new ideas, including a new valve for the water closet (toilet), the hydraulic pump, a fountain pen, and a fire engine. Bramah also introduced a beer hand pump for use at the bar, to prevent fluid loss when barmen went downstairs to pour a new jug! Due to the quality of his manufacturing, his name became a by-word amongst British Engineers for engineering excellence and many of his inventions are on display in the Science Museum in London. You can find one of his original toilets still working in Osborne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. The Bramah lock was unique and advanced property and valuables protection enormously. Indeed it was 50 years ahead of any Chubb lock...

Splendid and vintage Burmese Box, red lacquered and engraved, unusual size. O/5307 -

A Japanese red burgundy, gold and black lacquer box with round corners and silk cloth interior lining, circa early-20th century, 1920s, Japan. Box was desi...

Austrian oak box with brass ornamental elements, second half of the 19th century. Original used condition.

A scarce fine quality antique silver-inlaid solid brass betel nut box (Lutuan), dating to the second half of the 19th / early 20th century, hand-crafted in Mindanao, Philippines. Boxes such as this were used to store the areca nut (also known as the betel nut) which would be wrapped in a betel leaf with lime paste and other ingredients, often tobacco, for chewing. Similar to the European tea caddy, these boxes often served as a way to impress while showing off ones wealth. Betel chewing was prevalent in the southern Philippines as in much of the rest of Southeast Asia. Wealthier Maranao families on Mindanao were able to afford elaborate silver-inlaid brass betel boxes such as this example. Such boxes were used to show off to guests and from which they were offered betel and the other component such as leaves and lime to make up the betel quid. Rare large size, most extant examples of such boxes tend to measure around 5 inches in length. At slightly more than 7.75 inches the example here is larger than most. The distinctive decorative box features a very heavy strong-box like rectangular shaped chest form with canted corners, copper handles, and a conforming hinged lid, lifting open to reveal an interior divided into three compartments covered by four hinged lids. Each of these doors is inlaid with silver in stylized orchid flower patterns. Exceptionally executed throughout, the arabesque silver inlaid exterior is decorated to the top with a large orchid motif within scrolling obid-obid (stylized rope) borders. The front, back and sides are inlaid with sets of stylized tail feathers of the sari-manok bird beneath which are unusual, highly stylized whimsical zoomorphic faces that appear like cat or tiger faces. (Such stylisation is accounted for by Southeast Asian Islamic preferences to avoid the overt and this potentially idolatrous representation of animal and human forms. Designs such as these are drawn from a local design repertoire that has its origins in wood carving. Although the spread of Islam in the Philippines began in the 14th century, mostly through the influence of Muslim merchants from the western Malay Archipelago, decorative arts in this design remain exceptionally rare. This lutuan represents a fine example of Islamic metalwork from the most eastern outreach of Islamic art and civilisation: Mindanao island being significantly further east than even China – artwork from Islamic Southeast Asia remains chronically under-represented in the world’s major collections of Islamic art. PROVENANCE / ACQUISITION Acquired from highly reputable auction house, Austin Auction Gallery, established 1983, Austin, Texas. References Brownrigg, H., Betel Cutters...