Southeast Asian Decorative Silver Betel Boxes

Fine Continental Silver Bonbon Box with Giltwash interior, 900 Standard. Surmounted by a flowerform finial, the two part box is decorated with a twisted gadrooned border, and a gilt-...

Antique American Folk Art Tramp Art Carved Box, probably Late 19th/Early 20th Century. A decorative box ornamented with layers of classic Tramp Art chip carved borders enclosing velvet ground panels centered by elongated star...

Early 19th Century Rosewood Sewing Box. This beautiful and large box has a simple elegance, with its bombe, sarcophagus form and beautifully grained rosewood. The exterior is decorat...

Three Miniature Sterling Silver Picture Frames, 20th century (possibly earlier). These petite and delicate picture frames would make a lovely addition to an elegant nightstand or a t...

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...

Asian decorative trinket lidded box in metal silvered hammered and etched with organic floral design. Anglo Raj style oval form betel box. Dimensio...

Handcrafted decorative round brass Indian lidded betel box with latch and a top handle. Delicately and intricately hand-chased with geometric designs. Used as a tea caddy with tea bo...

This is a fine example of an early 20th C rectangular bronze betal nut box with beautiful and elaborate silver inlay from Mindanao in the Philippines. The box has a handle on each si...