Dallas Tea Caddies

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

A Fantastic 19th Century French Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Mounted Blue Opaline Crystal Box. The box is composed of two sections of French opaline crystal which are mounted to a fa...

English Tortoiseshell Pagoda Form Tea Caddy, Early 19th Century

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...

This charming antique French jewelry casket is a true little treasure in itself. Dating back to the late 19th century, this delicate box was designed with an eye for elegance and rom...

19th Century French Cut Crystal Casket Box with Ormolu Mounts and Key. Overall excellent condition with age appropriate wear. No damages. Original ...

A very attractive and good quality late 18th century Georgian mahogany oblong tea caddy, retaining good colour and patina, having attractive inlaid decoration to front and hinged lid, enclosing double sectioned interior with lids. Tea was a precious commodity throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and the purpose of a tea caddy was not just to preserve the and extend the life of the precious tea leaves...

English 19th Century Domed Top Tortoiseshell Tea Caddy with Silver Inlay and Ball feet

The (wh)ORE HAüS STUDIOS small goods collection was made for those that wanted to experience the (wh)ORE HAüS brand without committing to our larger pieces. Our Brass Vessel Set with...

A rare, incredible and large antique Chinese carved mother of pearl mounted tea caddy with armorial for MacPherson and dating from circa...

Elegant 19th century French Madagascar wood Tantalus set. A beautiful set with decanters and glasses. A fine set! Note: 2 glasses are missing.

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...