Product Description

Antique Shan State Betel Box 4              SOLD

Material: Silver
Style: Shan State
Size: Height 8 cm, Length 18.5 cm, Width 10 cm
Order Number: MHSASBBB4

The Shan State is a state in Burma (Myanmar),  which was once made up of a large number of traditional monarchies or fiefdoms. Betel boxes, flower bowls, and vases used in the palace were made of silver, rather than gold.  Silversmiths hammered discs of silver into shape. Baw silver, at least 95% pure, was mined at Baw-dwin in the Northern Shan States. It produced light and flexible objects.

The silversmiths excelled in repoussé and chasing techniques, which involved hammering a sheet or disc of silver from the reverse side into a container and then covering it with lively figures and floral patterns in high relief. The work continued for affluent merchants and administrators after the fall of the palace and the start of the colonial period in 1885.

Distinctive boldly conceived, well-finished repoussé decoration is characteristic of Shan craftsmanship.

All sides are embellished.

The inscription on the base says in Burmese:

1254 Burmese Era, U Tun Aye – Daw Ngwe Sein, Nyaung Hla Village.

This date is 1892, presumably the date it was made. 

U Tun Aye – Daw Ngew Sein is the name of a person – presumably either the owner or the person who made it.

Nyyaung Hla Village is a small village, not far from Mandalay, presumably where the owner or the person who made it lived.