Amsterdam - Boxes

Antique China Wood Pencil Box Chicken Cock Figth Imerial Court Scene Top, 18th C Beautifully painted. Additional information: Material: Wood Type: Box Region of Origin: China Date...

An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...

Superb late 16th century signed colonial Japanese Namban export lacquer coffer Momoyama period, late 16th/early 17th century, inscribed 'Arisato' on the bottom H. 30.5 x W. 43...

AN INDIAN ROSEWOOD AND EBONY BRASS MOUNTED BOX FOR THE ISLAMIC MARKET Malabar Coast, 18th century With a large drawer with several compartm...

A fine Coromandel wood miniature cupboard Sri Lanka, 18th century Measures: H 89.5 x W 60.5 x D 28.8 cm This entire four-door miniature cupboa...

A Japanese lacquer writing box 19th Century Of rectangular shape, overall painted in famille rose colors with flowers, all on a yellow ground, the interior in red. Additional inform...

A Japanese lacquer writing box 19th Century Of rectangular shape, overall painted in famille rose colors with flowers, all on a yellow ground, the interior in red. Additional inform...

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...

A large Japanese Namban lacquer arqueta coffer for the Portuguese market Kyoto, Momoyama-period, late 16th century In Hinoki cypress lacquered in ...

A large Indian Colonial ‘Vizagapatam’ pen-engraved bone inlaid ebony box Masulipatnam or Vizagapatam, 2nd half 18th century H. 10.8 x W. 47 x D. 34 cm ...

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...

A Japanese Satsuma Round box with lid. Marked base. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: Japan Period: 19th century Japanese Style: Satsuma Japan ...

Perfect Antique Chinese Cloissone Box Qing Period Bronze, 19th/20th Century Great piece of cloisonne. Additional information: Material: Porcelain &...

Probably Sumatra, Padang, 18th century H. 8.4 x W. 22.5 x D. 15.3 cm Weight 1700 grams Due to the form of this box, together with the date, the most likely place of production of t...

Japanese Namban lacquer transition-style coffer with two drawers Kyoto/Nagasaki, circa 1650 The cartouches with gilt and red decorations of leaves...

Rare signed Gabriella Crespi gold brass cigarette, pill box for a stylish desk. 1970s, made in Italy. This piece is new, unused, in excellent, nearly new condition. Comes ...

Batavia (Jakarta), 19th century, apparently unmarked H. 5 x W. 18 x D. 13 cm Before settling down to business in the former Dutch East Indies, sirih had to be offered in the most e...

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...

A fine Indo-Portuguese inlaid teak wood figure of Nagini India, Goa, 17th century Measure: H. 55 cm (with stand, and with ring for wall hanging) The sculpture can be perceived as such but probably is one of four legs of an Indo-Portuguese contador...

Two Palembang Peranakan lacquerware bridal boxes and a tray South Sumatra, Palembang, lacquer work by Chinese Peranakan artisans, mid 20th century Woo...

A dutch tortoiseshell box with two engraved silver plaques Amsterdam, 1691, with maker's mark of Steven des Rousseaux (1654-1733) H. 5 cm Diam. 12.5 cm Note: Steven des ...

A pair of very fine silver filigree rosewater sprinklers Possibly India, Karimnagar, early 18th century Measures: Height 31.6 cm and 31.7 cm,...

Interesting and have piece. Must be an inkstone. The cover is with mother of pearl with a box where flowers are growing from. Very happy piece. Additional information: Material: Por...

A fine Japanese export red lacquer box with Masonic symbols Kyoto/Nagasaki, 1800-1820 Red lacquer decorated with scattered flowers and flying birds with long tails in gold, wit...

Perfect Antique Chinese Dragon Cloissone Box Qing Period Bronze, 19th Century. Great piece of cloisonne. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & ...

Nicely shaped and sized Armorial box. Family unknown. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Type: Tea/Coffee Drinking: Bowls, Cups & Teapots Region of Origin: China ...

A charming satin and rosewood, ebony and teak collectors’ table-cabinet Sri Lanka, second half of the 18th century Measures: H. 86.5 x W. 62.5 x D. 34.7 cm In the top of the shaped cornice, there is a carving of a butterfly or moth. Under the cornice two panelled doors with scorched chequered motif, and under the doors one long drawer. When the doors are locked, so is the drawer. Behind the two doors, there are eight drawers, suitable to store small collectors’ items, such as a coin collection, or mineral specimens, small shells, collections of animal teeth, etc. The 17th and 18th centuries saw a wide-spread interest in exotic cultures and collecting of botanical, zoological and geological specimens...

A unique and exceptional Japanese miniature or dollhouse export lacquered chest Kyoto, circa 1620-1640 The chest of rectangular shape with a domed lid, decorated in Transition-style, in gold hiramaki-e on a black background within reserved lobed cartouches decorated with landscapes animated with birds and rabbits, on a shagreen or samegawa background. The borders are decorated with geometric friezes, the box with gilt-copper mounts, the interior decorated in red lacquer. Measures: H 9.2 x W 14.5 x D 7.2 cm This miniature is of exceptional quality and a perfect copy of the famous large size Transition-style coffers. It was most likely ordered by a Dutch lady for her dollhouse (poppenhuis), like the famous Petronella Oortman (1656-1716) doll-house, which is now one of the highlights in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, or Petronella Oortmans-de la Court’s (1624-1707) dollhouse in the collection of the Centraal Museum Utrecht. Sara Rothé of Amsterdam in 1743 ordered a miniature black lacquered ivory tripod table with gold chinoiserie decoration by Jurriaan Buttner (Monika Kopplin, European Lacquer, 2010, p. 56). Other Japanned dollhouse...

A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’ Edo-period, circa 1830 H. 12.5 x W. 24...

A ruyi-shaped Shakudo-style erotic tobacco or snuff box, relief-decorated with silvered applied figures Possibly Jakarta (Batavia), first half 18th century Measures: H. 2.2 x L. 12.1 x W. 8 cm This box is very much in the Dutch taste, for the illustration is after a print with a legend reading “L’oiseau sans cage. Prenez, belle, mon oiseau. C’est le plus doux présent que je puisse vous faire. Pour les autres oiseaux, la cage d’ordinaire est une espèce de tombeau. Mais le mien semble prendre une nouvelle vie, Lorsqu’il sera dans la cage de mon aimable Silvie.” The erotic message is as clear as can be. In Dutch culture the verb ‘vogelen’ (catching a bird) is another word for having sex and a bird escaping from his cage indicates loss of chastity. The lady with the bare breasts, while making the sign of sealed lips to the lady behind her, who is pointing towards heaven, seems to be caressing the bird held in the sleeping man’s groin. 17th century Dutch pictures...

A strongbox was a type of travelling chest and these types of boxes were more common in England than anywhere else where they were fabricated between 1660 and 1720. The earliest proo...

A Dutch walnut writing box with brass mounts Early 18th century Measures: H. 20 x W. 47 x D. 28 cm The interior is divided in various compa...

Magnificent and rare Late 18th Century Dutch Colonial decorative box. Striking Dutch design from the 1790s. Made out of Slavonian solid oak with original patinated iron handles and l...

Lovely Antique Meiji Period Japanese Lacquer Inro, 19th Century Additional information: Period: 19th century, 20th century Region of Origin: Japan Japan Dynasty Period: Meiji Period...

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...

Nice Quality with superb decoration. Additional information: Material: Bronze / Copper Region of Origin: Japan Period: 19th century Meiji Periode (1867-1912) Condition: Some small ...

An important Japanese lacquer box with a view of The 'Nieuwe Stadsherberg Van Amsterdam Nagasaki, Edo-period, 1830-1840 The black lacquered wood box, decorated in gold and inla...

Stunning and rare Antique decorative box. Striking Dutch design from the 19th century. Solid oak with nicely hand-carved elements. The origin...

Lovely 19th c Antique Meiji Period Japanese Lacquer box. Additional information: Material: Lacquer Region of Origin: Japan Period: 19th century, 20th century Japan Dynasty Period: M...

Fabulous and small japanese earthenware Satsuma Matchbox holder of great shape and scene. The idea is to put the matchbox in it and then inside bit pushes open the matchbox and you ...

dint vintage set of 5 mid century faux tortoise plexiglass and brass desk accessories consisting in : 2 different sized trays. 1 small trash bin 1...