Cocobolo Vases and Vessels

A very cool midcentury mosaic and wood lidded box, circa 1960s. The piece is in very good vintage condition with some wear and patina. #1444.

Mid-Century Modern Murano vase, thick-walled glass with embedded flower decorations. It is a single flower vase, beautiful from every point of view.

Just beautiful stylish tiny vases in matte glazing with geometric patterns in yellow, green, brown and black. Typical from the fifties/sixties

Beautiful purple and yellow Mid-Century Italian Murano facetted glass vase. Made using the Sommerso (submerged) glass technique.

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 Mid-Century Modern Bistossi ceramic vase with a stylized crossword design of squiggly lines with block squares in red, yellow, gray blue and black on a white glazed soft textured b...

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...

A circular faceted box with hinged lid, circa late 19th century. Overall gilt patterned decoration with raised ruby tone glass panels. The domed lid with f...

Peruvian exotic wood box with nickel framed ancient Nazca textile top.

A beautiful green Murano glass vase with clear base. Signed on the bottom 'Murano'. The vase is in very good condition, no chips and no feta bites. Beautiful color. Dimensions: 3...

Mid-Century Modern hand-turned vase with a rim around the neck, gracefully shaped into a ribbed central portion which then again flows into a wonderfully ...

A beautiful Mid-Century Modern hand-carved natural organic wood art sculpture/ vase/ vessel. It appears to have been made from a single piece of wo...