Montreal Decorative Boxes

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

This vintage Italian decorative chrome box from the 1960s features an elegant brass top detail, exemplifying mid-century Italian craftsmanship and style.

Mark Cross leather attaché case.

An exceedingly rare and important pair of George III-period mahogany knife boxes of exceptional quality and condition. The boxes are of serpentine form with refined crossbanded and c...

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...

Very funny little snuff box with a text about Etimologie; the true learning or real learning, on the lids outside and a hidden erotic motive on the inside of the lid.

A wonderful heavy cast bronze, hinged/lidded box, lightly polished, and glowing. Depicting ancient relief scenes / characters of Ancient Roman or Greek...

French Empire Rococo Style Carved Mahogany Paw Foot Jewelry Vanity Trinket Box. Circa Late 20th Century. Measurements: 7.5" H x 13" W x 8" D.

This is a lovely pair of English George III style mahogany cutlery urns with delicate satinwood stringing. The top with centered finial lifts to reveal apertures for the cutlery. The...

A Very Good Quality, 18th century, George III Period, Mahogany Pair Of Knife, Or Cutlery, Boxes Of Typical Shape With Serpentine Fronts And Superbly Figured, Inlaid And Crossbanded Sloped Lids, Revealing Later Fabric Lined Interior Compartments. Cutlery boxes, or as they are now more commonly referred to, Knife boxes, were of course originally made with the purpose of housing the homes most precious and valuable cutlery and enable it to be locked away when not in use. This was very important as generally the cutlery used...

Minimal in its ornamentation, this handmade brass box exemplifies the exacting standards of Hagenauer artisans while encapsulating the timeless elegance in the workshop’s designs — a miniature...

A well painted Chinese Canton enamel lobed round box and cover featuring the Eight Immortals, with a Qianlong mark to the underside, late Qing Dynasty, circa 1900, China The deligh...