Southeast Asian Red Lacquer Betel Box, c. 1900

Dated to the early 20th-century, this small woven box is a timeless example of Burmese lacquerware. Made of woven bamboo strips, the box is coated in a putty-like substance known as ...

No self-respecting man in Qing-dynasty China would leave the house without some kind of hat. In fact, headgear was so central to social status that even the containers used to store ...

This finely painted box was once presented as a gift, filled with popular snacks like roasted melon seeds, dried fruit, and cinnamon-toasted soy beans. Used like a modern lunchbox, e...

This small treasure box from the late 19th century exemplifies the lavish splendor of the Qing-dynasty (1644-1911) decorative arts, finished with intricate surface embellishment and ...

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 attractive antique Burmese cylindrical orange and black lacquered bamboo betel box, kun-it, with interior tray, early 20th century, circa 1910, Burma (Myanmar). The visually str...

The vermillion lacquered cylindrical body decorated overall with repeating bands of curvilinear geometric motifs, the cover lifting to reveal both of its original trays intended to h...

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