Anglo Raj Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

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 ...

This slender metal container is a 19th-century white brass incense burner, used for storing and burning incense sticks. The small box has a rectangular form and a removable sliding t...

Filled with burning coals, this petite 19th-century brass brazier once warmed the hands of a well-to-do person on a cold winter's night in northern China. The brazier is crafted of white brass in a rectangular form, complete with a hinged handle and an intricately pierced lid with a chrysanthemum pattern. The exterior is etched with a pattern of golden coins...

A fine Japanese cloisonne hinged box with pheasant and autumn foliage, by Inaba Nanaho and the Inaba Cloisonne Company, Meiji period, circa 1900, ...

Antique valuable handmade sterling silver box or Decorative jewllery box with Illustration pressed, cast and chased. Rectangular body on short, curved feet with hinged, vaulted lid. ...

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...

Burmese antique lacquerware betel box. Individual Betel Box authentic Burmese Folk Art know as Kun- It, Mandalay Period. A lacquered cylindrical body of woven turned Bamboo decorated by incised lacquer overall with Chu-pan variant motif and traditional Folk Art characters. This Betel Box has four bowls that make up the entire box. This is a complete Burmese Lacquerware Betel Box. Each bowl has a purpose. The top and base work as large containers and two shallow dishes work as small bowls. The workmanship is very unique having exquisite height details to the bottom of the base container and the two shallow bowls showcasing a complex design to the weaving. Antique Burmese Lacquerware is highly collectible, having books written on this Folk Art with museums having collections and exhibits of same. A very nice antique Burmese Betel Box...

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...

Antique Chinese Opium Box in Cloisonné Enamel, decorated with Floral Motifs and Interior Scenes French Private Collection

A rare Japanese bark tree large cloisonné box on metal from the Meiji period. Usually bark tree cloisonné was on porcelain (totai Shippo) A very attracti...

An absolutely lovely Chinese export pink Canton enamel round stacking box and cover, late Qing Dynasty, circa 1900, China. The circular stacking box consists of a bowl form base, ...

An exquisite Indian Koftgari work box, or jewelry box, circa 1900, in oval shape. Featuring very fine, gold thread decoration with three silvered bun feet and a silvered base. The li...