Product Description

Antique Shan State Half Moon Lime Box 5

Material: Silver
Style: Shan State, Eastern Burma
Size: Height 4 cm, Length 9.5 cm, Width 4.5 cm
Order Number: MHSASSHMLB5

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.

This solid silver half-moon box held powdered lime for the betel quid. It is repousséd and chased on all sides. On the sides are typical Shan motifs within cartouches.

There is a hinged lid with a hinge rod, elaborately curled at both ends of the hinge. The base has an inscription on the base.

There are similar boxes in The Shan: Culture, Arts & Crafts, Susan Conway, River Books, 2006, page 156 and a similar example is shown in Betel and Miang, Vanishing Thai Habits, P.A. Reichart and H.P. Philipsen, White Lotus, 1996, page 83.

70-80 years old.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).