Primitive Cigar Boxes and Humidors

Add style and the finishing touch to your countertop or nightstand with this antiqued gold toned top and grey ribbed metal body tissue box cover to pr...

beautiful 19th century English Regency style trinket box, showcasing exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail. The box features intricate inlay work across the surface, highl...

Inlaid with floral sprays of engraved mother of pearl and brass From our Sewing Box collection, we are delighted to offer this William IV Rosewood Inlaid Sewing Box. The Sewing Box ...

Here is this English silver plate art deco style round shape covered cigarette / tobacco box, a must have accessory for the discerning aficionado. This exquisite box seamlessly com...

Antique Victorian burr walnut Tunbridgeware inlaid work box, having a quality burr walnut Tunbridgeware inlaid box opening to reveal a fitted interior to the lid and a large compartm...

Antique early 20th century paint decorated carved wood apple box. Beautiful bright color. Measures 4 1/2" tall x 4 1/4" diameter. These apples were made in Japan for the American mar...

The look of a leather bound book with fine gold tooling to the exterior. Originally used for Bridge scorecard and playing cards (included). The piece is a compliment to the bookshelf...

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...

An exceptionally decorative Middle Eastern Mamluk Revival brass jewelry or trinket box, dating to the early 20th century, circa 1900–1920, and displaying the elaborate hand-worked or...

1840s wood European document box with iron ornamentation.

Exquisite handcrafted box decorated with intricate traditional Middle Eastern marquetry. Made of dark wood with geometric inlays , it features a refined design of stars and repeating...

Heavily Inlaid with Mother of Pearl and Abalone From our Writing Box collection, we are pleased to offer this stunning Antique Inlaid Writing Box by Hausburg. The Writing Box of rec...