Soapstone Decorative Boxes

This charming 20th-century French box is expertly crafted from sheet metal and adorned with exquisite hand-painted floral decorations. Set against a soft beige background, the design...

This is a beautiful hand carved wood jewelry box in the style of Dean Santner. The boob shaped box twists open easily to reveal a compartment w...

This finely hand-carved Malachite box celebrates the timeless beauty of one of the world’s most admired ornamental stones. The surface reveals dramatic banding in rich hues that shif...

An impressive lacquered keepsake box by Maitland Smith, circa 1990s. Features a chinoiserie motif with flowers and Asian figures. the box is in the form of a treasure chest with hing...

Antique Chinese Tibetan Brass Filigree with Turquoise and Coral beads round Box Handcrafted round Tibetan, Nepalese decorative brass trinket wish box. Antique Asian Tibetan hand made box inlaid with polished turquoise and coral glass inlay pieces. Great fine brass filigree design on the top lid and sides. Has a wonderful patina. In good shape with age appropriate wear this box has retained its original patina finish, has no missing pieces. Opens and closes as it should. A beautiful Asian pill box for a vanity or desk. Box measures: 2" height X 4" diameter. Tibetan Buddhist prayer boxes...

Elegant rare beautiful box by Maitland Smith in tessellated stone with brass accents. circa 1970s, great original condition beautiful mahogany inlaid.

A beautiful polished green malachite decorative box with a lid. Brought from a trip to Egypt in the 1970s, this piece will be fabulous on a nightstand or coffee table. Dimensions...

Vintage Asian Silver Metal Hand-Carved Sitar Veena Box. Elevate your decor with this stunning vintage box, featuring intricate hand-carved designs of a sitar and peacock. The ornate ...

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...

Lapis lazuli hand carved mosaic lidded box, with white marble interior. Natural lapis stone has beautiful golden pyrite inclusions, like a sprinkling of fairy dust. The lapis mosaic...

A substantial English black and white marble stone jewelry or decorative (trinket) box, in the Modern style, circa late-20th century, England. Box is rec...

A diminutive carved pink marble Postmodern cylindrical trinket box. The perfect size for gifting a piece of jewelry or as a gift in itself for a box collector. In excellent condition...