Islamic Jewelry Boxes

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...

This is a Moorish-style jewelry box adorned with inlaid marquetry work, featuring a mosaic of geometric and floral patterns. The design is highly detailed, with small pieces of wood ...

1950s Moorish Spain Music Box: This exquisite handcrafted box, made in Granada, Spain, showcases the intricate art of Islamic Moorish marquetry. The ...

Stunning mosaic design, this intricate wood box is made from multiple micro pieces of wood with some possible bone inlays. Gorgeous craftsmanship. A true work of art. Would be a g...

Micro Mosaic Persian Islamic Moorish Inlaid Jewelry Pen Box. 1950s Middle Eastern Moorish Inlaid Jewelry Trinket Mosaic Box. Handcrafted mar...

Middle Eastern Sadeli micro mosaic inlaid jewelry footed box with lid. Intricate inlaid box with floral and geometric Moorish design. Sadeli micro mosaic designs in mosaic marquetry, very fine artwork. Lined with red velvet and glass, top final and feet are brass. A highly collectible example in superb condition complete Circa 1900. Museum piece like the ones in Doris Duke Islamic Art Museum. Middle Eastern Arabian Micro Mosaic Moorish...

Large vintage Moorish wedding jewelry box inlaid with semi-precious agate stones and covered with brass and silvered metal filigree. Large circular Moorish Middle East jewelry...

Chinese antique Wooden cat jewelry box or object holder, 1920s Jewelry box with retractable compartment in the shape of a lying cat, entirely made o...

A beautifully crafted hexagonal jewelry box inlaid with luminous mother‑of‑pearl and abalone seashell, executed in the Moorish design style, circa mid‑20th century. The lid centers a...

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...

Middle Eastern Syrian style wooden jewelry box intricately inlaid with geometric patterns and accented with pieces of mother of pearl, with patinated brass hardware and a hinged lid ...

This is a fine quality Edwardian cut crystal dressing table pot, mounted with a sterling silver lid. The oval crystal body rests on a star-cut base and is exquisitely decorated with ...