PAGODA RED Snuff Boxes and Tobacco

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

This is a small oval shaped antique metal Pill Box with Inlay to the lid and dating to the Edwardian or late Victorian period. The box is made ...

This antique Chinese dressing case features a warm brown lacquer finish over softwood, with a rich grain pattern and a compact, rectangular form. Likely from the early 20th century, ...

Old Chinese wooden jewelry box with brass fittings and a jade plaque centrally placed on the lid, inside a pink/fuchsia lining with gold floral decoration, second half of the 20th ce...

Large Vintage rosewood wooden jewelry box, jewelry storage box with 5 drawers and 2 doors, decorated with jade and brass fittings, circa mid 20th century, marked Shanghai made in Chi...

Old Chinese rosewood jewelry box with 2 doors and 3 drawers, jewelry box with brass fittings and a jade plaque in the center of the doors and sides, inside a red lining with silver-c...

A fine Japanese cloisonne hinged box with pheasant and autumn foliage, by Inaba Nanaho and the Inaba Cloisonne Company, Meiji period, circa 1900, ...

Decorative Antique Asian round wood box container with lid and brass pull. Vintage collectible Asian wooden tobacco or opium round container. Round shaped lidded opium container...

This antique decorative box is unsigned, but presumed to have originated from China, and date to approximately 1920 and done in a period Chinese...

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...

Personal size Betel Nut Box, Maranao, Southern Philippines (Mindanao). A mixed metal box having a brass body with bordered silver inlay design overall of a symmetrical floral tendril...

Medium Maranao Betel Nut Box, Southern Philippines (Mindanao). A bronze box with bordered silver inlay design overall of a symmetrical floral tendril vine pattern referred to as the ...