South Asian Boxes

Beautiful 19th Century Eastern Tortoiseshell and Bone Trinket Box, Lined with Blue Velvet on Paw Feet. Ideal for jewellery or keepsakes or just as a ...

This is an antique patinated bronze sculpture of a stylized form peacock. Used as a betel box or tobacco opium box. Produced using the traditional 'lost wax'...

Exquisite Indian craftsmanship made of teak with a patinated surface and extraordinary intricate Brass work. Made during the latter part of the Mughal Empire, Southern India circa 1780

19th century metamorphic camphor writing slope circa 1890. Here we have a fine quality campaign tambour table top desk made in camphor wood. Many features to this brass bound desk....

beautifully crafted anglo indian rosewood jewelry box dating to the turn of the twentieth century. The box showcases the rich tone and grain of rosewood, a material widely used in a...

Handcarved wooden trinket box with carved geometric shapes, small handmade ornamental indentations and cream white decor on the lid. Rustic organic ...

VERY DECORATIVE VIZAGAPATAM BOX Vizagapatam, India, 19th Century. Rustic workmanship will only add to the decorative appeal of this Anglo-Indian footed domed casket in ebonized woo...

Lofty antique Anglo Indian box crafted with a polished coconut and decorated with jewelry like silvered metal work featuring a hand as a locking clip.

Anglo Indian carved mahogany cat with ebonized stripes and a curious expression, featuring a secret compartment on the bottom.

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)...

Beautiful hand-crafted polished brass footed box with with lid, latch and handle intricately hand-hammered with geometric designs and pierced with holes. Vintage pierced decorative Mughal Indian style brass box from India...

Asian antique Beaten Brass Betel Nut Pandan Box, Northern India. Beautiful antique hand hammered Asian round brass betel with a lid and delicate engravings with floral design handle hand crafted by skilled artisans from Northern India. Indian Beaten Copper Betel Nut Pandan Box with hand hammered beaten floral and incised decoration used to store betel leaf, lime, tobacco and the nut from the areca palm. This mixture of ingredients when prepared and placed in the mouth for long periods gives the user a mild aphrodisiac effect. The preparation of the betel nut with lime stored in ornate boxes with several smaller internal containers was popular all over Asia and is still a common practice in Myanmar and India and among the hill tribes of many S. E. Asian countries. Engraved with intricate designs on the lid which has a carved floral design handle and a latch in front for opening or closing the box and for safekeeping. Nicely hand-hammered with intricate details. Please check photo #5, there is about 1 inch damage area on the side of the box. Museum quality Asian Hand-hammered decorative Islamic brass folk art metalwork collector treasure box. Measures: Diameter 7 in. x Height 4 in. The box has a rich, deep brown patina. Quality of Mughal style. A pandan was used to store the pan, or betel quid after it had been stuffed and rolled ready to eat, rather than for the individual ingredients. The chewing of betel is an ancient Asian tradition comparable to tobacco in the western world. Betel consists of three main ingredients: the areca nut, betel leaf and lime paste. Betel was, and still is enormously popular throughout Asia and plays a major role in the entertaining of guests, in courtship and marriage, and in the traditional etiquette of the royal courts, where it often forms part of the state regalia.[1] Research on several pandan boxes has been published by Zebrowski.[2] Brownrigg, H. Betel Cutters...

An Indian brass pandan box, 19th century. 9 inches wide by 7 inches tall

Handcrafted marquetry Moorish wood inlay micro mosaic with miniature hand painted scene. Handcrafted khatam wooden box with very delicate micro mosaic marquetry from the ancient Pers...

1920s Wood Himachal Pot This seemingly simple wooden vase is a design object of infinite beauty and elegance that can be placed in either an antique or a modern or contemporary set...

An Indian silver plated metal box from the 19th century with pierced foliage motifs. Created in India during the 19th century, this silver plated metal box attracts our attention wit...

A BRASS MUGHAL INDIAN OVAL BETEL PANDAN BOX Northern India, early 19th century. Length: 5 1/4" in. (13.3 cm.) height: 3 1/4" in. (8.3 cm.) width: 4" in. (1...

Mounted with Silver From our Sewing Box collection, we are pleased to offer this Solid Coromandel Anglo Indian and Silver Sewing Box. The Sewing Box of...

Beautiful blue Lapis Lazuli and Carrara marble stone jewelry box. Created from genuine blue Lapis Lazuli, this box is low in profile and rectangular in form. This lovely jewelry or trinket box features a lid that fits onto its base. Both of which are completely covered in this beautiful blue stone. The interior of the box's base and lid, are created using Carrara marble. The lid features stays, which retrofit into the base, and allow the top to hold to the base without sliding or moving. The exterior is flanked with the gorgeous richly hued blue lapis lazuli. How we would style it: This blue stone box...

Beautiful handcrafted antique tinned copper decorative octagonal betel box with with lid, handle and brass latch. The metal is delicately and int...

An Anglo Indian Rectangular Porcupine Quill & Bone Box, 20th Century Description: Constructed from wood, featuring naturally shed porcupine quills inlaid between decorative band...

A beautiful unique Indian motif box with a lid. This piece would be fantastic for storing cigars, tv remotes, or miscellaneous items on a dresser or coffee table. The top of the box ...

Anglo Raj inlaid marble pietra dura decorative box with lid. Handmade marble decorative lidded box inlaid with semi precious stones, jasper and carnelian for orange. It is the same craft that you see in the Taj Mahal. Very nice fine pietra dura art...

Antique handcrafted wooden Persian khatam pen box. This Pen Box is completely Khatam handmade design very detailed fine work in and out. Middle Eastern Persian...

Large Middle Eastern Indo-Persian Micro Mosaic Khatam Inlaid Wooden Jewelry Box. Middle Eastern Persian Sadeli micro mosaic marquetry inlaid box with geometric Moorish design. Handcrafted Khatam wooden box with very delicate micro mosaic marquetry from the ancient Middle Eastern technique of inlaying from arrangements of so many delicate pieces of precious hand painted wood, with bone around the edges. This beautiful Middle Eastern Persian, Indian Wooden box is covered with fine Moorish micro mosaic marquetry and is used as a jewelry, trinket box. Lined in deep red velvet. Dimensions: 6.5in.D x 3in.H x 10 wide. Nice Indian Mughal, Indo Persian Box...

A Latched Wooden Box with Brass Overlay Decorations, 20th Century Descriptions: The ebon rectangular box decorated with overlaid Arabesque brass motifs punctuated by nailhead boss...

Antique 19th century beautiful handcrafted decorative round tinned copper bronze South Asian box with lid, latch and handle. A very fine antique Pandan or B...

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...

19th century Kashmiri Hand Painted Trinket Box A true work of art, this mid-19th century Kashmiri handcrafted trinket box is covered in beautiful detail. Including peacocks, birds, flowers, and foliage. The hand painted detail is raised from the box with gold gilded paint and vibrant colours. The box is hinged with its original key and painted orange inside, this example would likely have been owner by a wealthy individual considering the amount of detail and craftsmanship that has gone into creating it, A rare survivor. Size of inches approx.: H 4” x W 11.5” x D 4.5” Completely solid in structure and form, with natural wear, loss of surface detail, the paint has worn away over years with damage in areas and loss of detail, The key is present however the lock does not close. The House of...

PRESENTING A BEAUTIFUL and RARE 19C Anglo Ceylonese Specimen Wood Trinket Box. Made in ‘Galle’, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) circa 1860-80. Made for the ex...

Anglo Indian hardwood campaign or dowry chest. This has brass straps, handles and large hinges on the interior. The lock has the original key. The chest is in good condition. It show...

A beautiful colorful decorative box with a lid created from Carrara marble and inlaid with a variety of semi-precious stones. The sides are inlaid with a variety of stones in abstrac...

A glamorous Art-Deco style accessory box with aged-brass etched and sculptured ginkgo leaf pattern on a sleek glossy black wood plinth base, designed by Laura Kirar. It's very heavy-...

Exquisite beauty of this antique Islamic Kashmiri Papier-Mâché Tea Caddy, a stunning storage box with a lid and copper metal lining. This hand-painted gem features intricate miniatur...

1920s Anglo-Raj Hand-Painted Rajasthani Dowry Box A striking early 20th-century Anglo-Raj decorative wooden box, hand-painted and richly detailed with romantic and courtly scenes. Or...

19th century Anglo-Indian Mughal wood box, inlaid and hand carved with the Taj Mahal and some flowers all around. Jewelry box, Anglo-Raj box from India in great condition. Nice Mughal Bombay Box...

A finely crafted polychrome semi-precious stone box featuring an intricate hexagonal mosaic inlay composed of richly colored natural stones. The lid displays a jewel-like honeycomb p...

PRESENTING A GORGEOUS 19C Anglo Indian Highly Carved Sadeli Mosaic Sarcophagus Sewing Box. Made in Bombay, India circa 1860-80. Box made of sandalwood with highly carved teak wood reliefs and panels on all sides. Edged with bone and ebony veneers and glorious sadeli mosaic, made from tiny pieces of faux ivory, pewter, green semi-precious stone. The box is in a sarcophagus form with domed lid. The original brass carry handles are on the sides. The interior is in great condition and consists of a removeable mirror under the lid portion, with the original red velvet lining behind it. The base is removeable and contains a number of lidded compartments. 6 of the interior lids on the base, are each inlaid with sadeli mosaic banding. The rest are also carved and chased. The interior is fully complete with 7 lidded faux ivory/bone, thread canisters with sadeli domes and the original bone thimble. The box sits on 4 brass ball or bun feet with the original velvet lining on the base. Some minor repairs and losses, but this box is fully complete. This is ‘rare’ as many of these boxes have not survived in such condition! Included in the sale are 2 photos that were in the box (under the base tray). Interestingly, one of them is a view of downtown Nassau, New Providence (Bermuda) from the early 20C and stamped on the rear. What a ‘journey’ this piece has made! Made in India … travelled to Bermuda, probably via Britain … back to Ireland (where we bought it) …. then to Texas! These boxes were made by superb Indian craftsmen, specifically for sale to the ruling British elite. These types of boxes, carved padouk and sandalwood, (whilst beautiful and superbly crafted) were of a lesser quality, than the more profusely and intricately mosaic inlay, tortoiseshell and ivory boxes, made for the British ‘Upper Classes’ in the areas of Bombay and Vizagapatam. These type of boxes were much more affordable back in 1880 (and indeed today) and would probably have been bought by mid-level diplomats, civil servants or visitors. Sewing boxes (in general), were in EVERY Victorian home in Britain in the 19th Century and like other boxes etc were ‘status symbols’ of your place in society! The more ornate the box, the more ‘Upper Class’ you were! Of it’s type, this one, is one of the very higher quality one’s, than the norm! SADELI MOSAIC: “Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials. Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra color. The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched. The makers (reputed to be Persian) of Sadeli mosaic made in the first two decades of the 19th century displayed a total understanding of the qualities of the different materials they used. They combined substances, which can expand and contract according to atmospheric conditions with others, which are hard and unyielding. The result was a sharp definition of the lines and patterns, which made up the whole design. On the early boxes the designs look deceptively simple. The fact is, they emerged from a culture, which had mastered geometry and understood how to generate a pattern from a set number of points. The patterns are so harmoniously combined that their incredible complexity is not immediately apparent. The earliest Sadeli boxes...

A 19th century Mughal dowry chest with carved patterns from India. This chest wooden chest with a slanted top strengthened by metal hardware reinforcements. The front displays lightly carved geometrical friezes. A large carved geometrical medallion adorns the triangular lid. The chest rests on four conical legs. This chest opens thanks to an door on the centre of its top. This unusual item was used as a dowry chest in India. This 19th century, Indian Mughal wood dowry chest...

This is a small vintage keepsake box. An Indian, teak storage case with carved finish, dating to the late Art Deco period, circa 1940. Petite a...

A wonderful hand-painted papier-mâché box beautifully decorated in a blue and gold. Kashmir, India, circa turn of the century.

An Indo- Portuguese brass-mounted hardwood and Indian Wood marquetry cabinet, Goa. Gorgeously made with hand-cut hardwood and the finest quality of othe...

Collection of 19th century Kashmiri items A highly decorative collection of 19th Century hand crafted Kashmiri objects including 6 different shaped boxes, a working lamp and urn....

Large Teak Jewelry Dowry Box with Brass, Late 19th Century, India. This Teak Indian Dowry Box is adorned with Decorative Brass, showcasing exquisite c...

An antique Indian wooden box from the 19th century, with brass details and weathered appearance. Topped with a rectangular lid fitted with a c-scroll handle and half opening to revea...

Presenting an absolutely fantastic 19C Anglo Ceylonese lap desk of museum quality. We can safely say that this is one of the finest lap desks we hav...

Rare late 17th century Dutch colonial, probably Sri Lankan, Macassar ebony document box having deeply molded raised panel lid, original ri...

Late 19th c. early 20th c. Persian Footed Wooden Round Jewelry Box. Antique rare in round shape large Persian wooden box with marquetry called "Sadeli" or "Khatam Kari" with exquisit...

Exquisite handcrafted red jasper box, measuring 8" x 6", featuring striking natural banding and patterns in deep red, cream, and earthy tones. Expertly made in India, this polished s...

Anglo-Indian penwork decorated veneered sandalwood glove box on turned ball feet the sides and top decorated with scrolling leaf borders and the top with a central leaf-framed cartou...

Early 19th century fine antique Indo-Persian carved sandalwood wooden box. Incredibly intricate, highly detailed and deeply carved beautiful handcrafted and carved wooden box with Mu...

This exquisite antique box from 19th century India is a true treasure with its rich patina and traces of green paint. The brass studs add a real touch making it a genuine statement p...

Beautiful old camel on wheels, trinket or spice box, vintage toy from the second half of the 20th century, made of solid red-colored wood, probably from India. The object has a beau...

19th Century Hand Painted Kashmiri Vessel A stylish late 19th Century hand painted Kashmiri vessel. Covered in intricate painted flowers a...

A fine early 19th century coromandel work box with moulded front design and fitted interior containing a super collection of sea shells. Ivory registration number 8NEDUS4R.

Folky silvered metal elephant handcrafted with a charming whimsical form hammered and etched designs that unexpectedly opens as a trinket box.

Hand-carved large wooden Anglo-Raj jewelry box. Early 20th century wood box richly decorated overall with arabesques and floral carving. Hinged lid shallow relief carving with interi...

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 ...

A stunning and substantial decorative box in the Mid-Century Italian style, carved from solid white marble and featuring a bold chevron inlay in vibrant green malachite. The crisp ge...

Standout exotic Anglo Indian lidded box handcrafted in mahogany and clad in tortoise shell with applied lacy bone designs inscribed and painted with flowers. The interior has a mirro...