Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 20

Two Dutch Colonial Tortoiseshell Bible Boxes with Silver Mounts, 18th Century

$11,313.97per set
£8,424.75per set
€9,500per set
CA$15,497.88per set
A$17,281.89per set
CHF 9,016.95per set
MX$212,055.32per set
NOK 114,771.46per set
SEK 108,743.47per set
DKK 72,320.05per set
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Tortoiseshell and silver H. 5 x W. 22 x D. 12 cm Tortoiseshell and silver H. 4.3 x W. 17 x D. 9.5 cm The function of bible boxes in the Dutch East Indies was just as much a status symbol, to show off one's wealth on the way to church, as it was to hold a small bible or hymnbook. Bible boxes existed in gold, silver, ivory, sometimes inlaid with precious stones, and in Coromandel or ebony wood. In the Dutch East Indies on the way to church, the women tried to display their fortune by the costliness of her bible box. The highest-ranking women had gold bible boxes, inlaid with precious stones, carried by a slave. The lower-ranking women had wooden bible boxes as the present ones. In 1754 Governor-General Jacob Mossel decreed that only the wives and widows of a Governor-General, Director General, Councillor of India or President of the Justice Council, were allowed to carry golden boxes adorned with precious stones in public. 4750 each.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 1.78 in (4.5 cm)Width: 8.67 in (22 cm)Depth: 4.73 in (12 cm)
  • Sold As:
    Set of 2
  • Style:
    Dutch Colonial (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
    Sri Lanka
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1700-1800
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Amsterdam, NL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5458220872972

More From This Seller

View All
A 17th century Dutch-colonial ebony two-door VOC cabinet with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Coromandel Coast, probably Masulipatnam, circa 1650-1680, the silver later H. 64.5 x W. 75 x D. 46 cm The present cabinet...
Category

Antique 17th Century Indian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Silver

Fine Dutch Colonial Indonesian Casket with Silver Mounts, circa 1706
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A fine Indonesian Ambonya burl, ebony and teak casket with silver mounts Jakarta (Batavia), circa 1706 (year letter W (1705-1710), marked DV, probably Dirck Vooght The outer ri...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Decorative Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

A colonial tortoiseshell veneered casket with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Possibly Spanish colonial, 17th century H. 15.2 x W. 25.1 x D. 12 cm Included is a hand-written letter, reading: Ik Ondergetekenden verklare bij dezen, dat mijn Wel en Begeerte is...
Category

Antique 17th Century Mexican Antiquities

Materials

Silver

17th century colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A splendid Dutch-colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2nd half 17th century, the mounts later The cabinet with a central drawer with hidde...
Category

Antique 17th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Silver

18th-century Dutch-colonial Peranakan mother-of-pearl casket with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An Indonesian Peranakan mother-of-pearl inlaid mastic sirih casket with silver mounts Jakarta (Batavia), circa 1720-1730, the silver hinges marked for Batavia, maker’s mark HS or SH...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Silver

An Indo-Portuguese colonial tortoiseshell veneered wooden casket
Located in Amsterdam, NL
India, probably made in Gujarat for Portuguese Goa, late 17th/early 18th century The tortoiseshell laid over gold foil, and the interior with red lacquer and possibly later added re...
Category

Antique Late 17th Century Indian Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Silver

You May Also Like

Antique Dutch Colonial VOC Batavian Tortoise Shell Silver Sirih Casket 1750
Located in Portland, OR
A rare, Dutch Colonial, Batavian (now Jakarta) Dutch East Indies silver and tortoise shell Sirih casket, circa 1750. The casket was used for storing highly prized betel nut, which was chewed ritually by high ranking Indonesian officials and adopted by settlers from the Dutch East Indies Company...
Category

Antique 1750s Indonesian Dutch Colonial Metalwork

Materials

Silver

19th Century Pair of Knife Boxes With Mother of Pearl
Located in Charlottesville, VA
A most unusual pair of knife boxes. Beautiful decoration.
Category

Antique 19th Century British Knife Boxes

Materials

Mother-of-Pearl, Wood, Paint

Pair of English Victorian Hammered Metal Boxes
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of English Victorian-style (20th Century) hammered silver cylindrical shaped box with scroll design and veneered cover with acorn finial top. (stamped: Royal House) (priced as p...
Category

20th Century Victorian Decorative Boxes

Materials

Silver

Pair of English Tortoise Shell Victorian Silver Mounted Tea Caddies c.1890
Located in Charlottesville, VA
Pair of English Tortoise Shell Victorian Silver Mounted Tea Caddies c.1890 w/ Original Keys.
Category

Antique Late 19th Century English Victorian Tea Caddies

Materials

Silver

Set of 2 Anglo Indian Boxes
Located in Vosselaar, BE
Set of 2 Anglo Indian boxes. Both early 20th century with bone and faux tortoise decorations. In overall good condition. The bone of the back from the larger box is absent and some s...
Category

Early 20th Century Indian Decorative Boxes

Materials

Bone, Wood

Rare pair of Japanese Nagasaki Export Lacquered Wood Knife Boxes
Located in Stamford, CT
Rare pair of Japanese Nagasaki Export lacquered wood knife boxes with mother-of-pearl inlay of flowers and birds, now converted to letter boxes...
Category

Antique Early 19th Century Japanese Anglo-Japanese Knife Boxes

Materials

Wood