Southeast Asian Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

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

This is a small oval shaped antique metal Pill Box with Inlay to the lid and dating to the Edwardian or late Victorian period. The box is made ...

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

Antique Silver Pumpkin Betel Box Asian Cambodian Very nice fine high quality piece in 900 silver 8 x 6 x 6 cm weight 52 grams approx. good Condition Fine PLEASE SEE PHOTOS FO...

A finely crafted antique metal box, decorated with intricate Islamic-inspired engravings. It features an elaborate central geometric design with in...

A striking early 20th century Austrian box with ebony veneer over birch and with a thin fruitwood inlaid stripe around the lid. A simple brass handle allows the lid to be opened. Per...

A charming early 20th-century brass document box, distinguished by its compact scale and beautifully aged patina. This rectangular form features a hinged lid, original swing handle, ...

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...

Early 20th Century Wood & Brass Tool Box / Chest. Beautiful natural patina.

Antique Anglo-Indian Silver-Plated Figural Stag Covered Box, British Raj Period This elegant Anglo-Indian silver-plated covered box is modeled as a reclining stag and crafted in two...

Vintage Italian silver plate box in the form of a large walnut.

Zig zag patterned cocobolo, blackwood and betel nut lidded box created by Jon Sauer of San Francisco, California. Box measures 7" in height by 3" in diameter. In excellent vintage co...