Chinoiserie Cigar Boxes and Humidors

Antique Chinese Tibetan Brass Filigree with Turquoise and Coral beads round Box Handcrafted round Tibetan, Nepalese decorative brass trinket wish box. Antique Asian Tibetan hand made box inlaid with polished turquoise and coral glass inlay pieces. Great fine brass filigree design on the top lid and sides. Has a wonderful patina. In good shape with age appropriate wear this box has retained its original patina finish, has no missing pieces. Opens and closes as it should. A beautiful Asian pill box for a vanity or desk. Box measures: 2" height X 4" diameter. Tibetan Buddhist prayer boxes...

Vintage Asian Silver Metal Hand-Carved Sitar Veena Box. Elevate your decor with this stunning vintage box, featuring intricate hand-carved designs of a sitar and peacock. The ornate ...

Antique Japanese Mother of Pearl inlaid jewelry box w lap desk This item includes restricted materials and can not be sold outside of the contiguous United States. Additional i...

Here is a fine quality heavy black lacquer jewelry box with a wonderful line carved mother of pearl inlay geisha girl scene on the top and flower and diamond repeat patterns around t...

This lovely vintage mid century modern soapstone box is from the 50's. The muted colors of pink, orange tangerine, yellow tan, black and gray make a great presence in any room for je...

An early 20th century walnut cigar Humidor, circa 1900 with sterling silver corners and nameplate. This piece has a campaign feel the corners are perfectly moulded. The walls of the ...

Elegant rectangular Vietnamese lacquer box finished in deep black lacquer and decorated with a hand-painted scene of goldfish swimming among aquatic plants in shimmering golden tones...

Antique Asian Silver Betel Nut Box in Foo Lion Form, Southeast Asia, 19th–20th Century A finely crafted antique South Asian silver betel nut box, ...

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...

Very nice box also used as a pillow in the Japanese culture, early 20th century. It is black lacquered and decorated with hand painted golden floral patterns. The copper latch is nic...

A scarce antique circa 1900 South Asian hand carved wooden decorative table box / jewel casket. Hand-crafted in the early 20th century, likely British Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka)...

An elegant antique Japanese box in black lacquered wood, decorated with a delicate gold motif depicting a bird perched on a flowering branch, acco...