Material: Silver
Style: Akha
Size: Height 15 cm, Width 15 cm
Order Number: MHSAHNR1

Hung around an infant’s neck during a special ceremony, a simple silver ring represented a dog collar, which fooled evil spirits into thinking the baby was just a worthless animal, and indeed the baby was given the name of an animal guardian. It also protected the child from illness and signified that the baby had entered the human world. If it died before the ceremony, it would not have a funeral, as it had never actually left the prenatal spirit world.

When the baby outgrew the size of the ring, it was melted down and made into a larger one. As a result few infant rings are seen today.

These developed into a larger neck ring with an opening at the bottom and the ends turned back to hold a chain on either side for a symbolic lock or pendant. This is what we have here. Such neck rings were worn by babies, young boys, women and young men in many minority and Han majority groups.

Akha women wear broad flat silver neck rings. The men wear smooth round neck rings. These days aluminium is often substituted for silver. The elders highly value silver, which are prestige items.

The Akha originated in Yunnan, South China, where most still live. For hundreds of years they have been migrating south, to Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.

The first Akha village in Thailand was established around 1903 near the Burmese border. There were more villages, but probably not more than 2,500 people by 1945. By 1983 there were about 7,000.

They have no written history, but they can recite the names of their male ancestors back 13 generations and their migration routes in China, Burma and Thailand.

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

The post Akha Hilltribe Neck Ring 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Akha
Size: Height 14.5 cm, Width 16 cm
Order Number: MHSAHNR2

Hung around an infant’s neck during a special ceremony, a simple silver ring represented a dog collar, which fooled evil spirits into thinking the baby was just a worthless animal, and indeed the baby was given the name of an animal guardian. It also protected the child from illness and signified that the baby had entered the human world. If it died before the ceremony, it would not have a funeral, as it had never actually left the prenatal spirit world.

When the baby outgrew the size of the ring, it was melted down and made into a larger one. As a result few infant rings are seen today.

These developed into a larger neck ring with an opening at the bottom and the ends turned back to hold a chain on either side for a symbolic lock or pendant. This is what we have here. Such neck rings were worn by babies, young boys, women and young men in many minority and Han majority groups.

Akha women wear broad flat silver neck rings. The men wear smooth round neck rings. These days aluminium is often substituted for silver. The elders highly value silver, which are prestige items.

The Akha originated in Yunnan, South China, where most still live. For hundreds of years they have been migrating south, to Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.

The first Akha village in Thailand was established around 1903 near the Burmese border. There were more villages, but probably not more than 2,500 people by 1945. By 1983 there were about 7,000.

They have no written history, but they can recite the names of their male ancestors back 13 generations and their migration routes in China, Burma and Thailand.

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

The post Akha Hilltribe Neck Ring 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Akha Hilltribe
Size: Height 6 cm,  Width 7 cm
Order Number: MHSHSB1

During the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912) wealthy Chinese Han aristocracy, Mongol and rich minority women  loved and wore silver open-ended bracelets. Some were given as betrothal gifts. The minorities gave then as presents to their future wives.

They served as both as ornaments and status symbols. The wealthier the person, the more they owned. A rich woman often commissioned silversmiths to make them pieces and they were passed down from generation to generation.

Silversmithing has been in decline from the 1970s and very few villages have a smith. The price of silver became very expensive and  robbers would steal silver jewelry. Akha women became a particular target. As a result many pieces were sold or hidden and substitutes made from aluminium.

There is a similar example in Things Thai, Tanistha Dansilp and Michael Freeman, Periplus Editions, 2002, page 126.

Early 20th century.

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

The post Akha Hilltribe Silver Bracelet 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Style: Indonesia
Size: Height 23 cm
Order Number: MHSAII16

Amber and silver beads.

Bead making has been a highly valued skill throughout the world from the earliest times, at least for 40,000 years. Techniques invented by the Ancient Egyptians and Romans are still used today.

They have been used to guard against evil and as adornment. They can indicate a person’s rank and marital status. They are portable wealth and are traded. They are used as amulets in some societies

They are used by religions. The word bead comes from the Anglo-Saxon biddan, meaning to pray. Roman Catholic rosary beads contain a set number of beads for counting prayers, for example 150 for the psalms. Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu rosaries have 108 beads.

The makers guard their techniques closely. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Venetian Doges monopolised world glass making. in 1292 the glass makers were moved to the island of Murano and forbidden to reveal their secrets or even leave. If they did, the punishment was death.

Beads can be made from anything: bone, horn, glass, wood, metals such as gold, silver, bronze, and brass, ceramic, ivory, seeds, berries, stones, shells, pearls, coral, amber, jet and even plastic.

Amber is a fossilised resin, which oozed out of trees 40 -120 million years ago, and has been carved since prehistoric times. It is mined in Burma, Romania, Sicily, Poland and Mexico. The colour ranges from yellow to reddish-black. It is soft and warm.

Map of Indonesia.

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

The post Antique Bead Necklace 16 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Burma (Myanmar)
Size: Height 5 cm, Diameter 5 cm
Order Number: MHSALBB6

70-80 years

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

The post Antique Burmese Betel Box 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Burma (Myanmar)
Size: Height 5.5 cm, Diameter 7cm
Order Number: MHSALBB7

70-80 years

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

The post Antique Burmese Betel Box 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Diameter 4 cm
Order Number: MHSACCE1

Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring.

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Cambodia.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Diameter 4 cm
Order Number: MHSACCE2

Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring.

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Cambodia.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Diameter 3.25 cm
Order Number: MHSACCE3

Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring.

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Cambodia.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring 3 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Diameter 3 cm
Order Number: MHSACCE4

Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring.

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Cambodia.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Ceremonial Earring 4 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 7.5 cm, Length 9 cm, Width 6.5 cm
Order Number: MHSACHLC3

Silver objects have been found in Cambodia dating back 500 years. The Royal capital was in Udong from the 15th to the 19^th century.  In 1866 King Norodom  moved the capital to Phnom Penh. Some master gold and silversmiths moved from Udong with the court and occupied quarters not far from the Royal Palace. In the early 20th century there were also skilled silversmiths in Battambang.

There were early foreign accounts of silver in Cambodia. Chinese records of Kaing T’ai and Chu Ying (3 AD) said  ‘gold and silver were used for making utensils and decorated … ‘

In the 13th century, Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary who lived almost a year in Angkor between 1296 and 1297, says ‘Cambodian silversmiths are experts in relief work.’  He went on to say, ‘Every person dining in the houses of nobles or rich people is given silver plates, and sometimes even gold ones … Then came other girls carrying gold and silver vessels from the palace and a whole galaxy of ornaments, of very special design, the uses of which were strange to me.’

Bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar temples (12th century) depict people carrying richly decorated objects which look similar to silver pedestal-dishes produced by silversmiths in Koh Chen, Udong.

Zhou Daguan wrote, ‘No gold or silver is found in this country, to my knowledge, most in demand are Chinese gold and silver.’ In the 16th and 17th centuries,  there were European traders  and Portuguese advisers to the court.  Portugal and Spanish traders  imported silver from Mexico via the Philippines to Cambodia. In 1604 the Spanish priest Gabriel Quiroga de San Antonio mentioned the abundance of gold, silver and precious gems.  A considerable amount of silver was imported to Southeast Asia from China and Japan.

There was surface silver mining in Bo Sup Trup in Cambodia since at least 1877 and underground mining from 1905 until 1911.

Thomas Wallace Knox, an Englishman who traveled throughout Southeast Asian countries in the late 19th century, mentioned precious objects that he saw in the house of the Siem Reap governor in 1871 after being entertained to dinner, ‘The Governor exhibited his gold betel boxes and other paraphernalia. He told us that all were made by a Cambodian goldsmith in Siemrap (sic) from the gold and silver coins of Hue, the capital of Annam, of entirely pure metal, and they certainly were very elegant in design and finish. We most admired the cigar case. The other articles were a large dish which contained the ‘kit’, a gold betel-leaf and lime holder; a small gold tobacco-box; a silver cup, with cigars and little silver box, made in the form of a fish, containing a perfumed ointment, used by the native noblemen to anoint their lips and nostrils.’

Silver repoussé boxes were made to contain lime, one of the ingredients for betel chewing, and cosmetics. They usually have animal and plant motifs. Betel chewing was a way of life among Asian kings, aristocrats and the common people, socially and ceremonially, such as at betrothals, weddings, Buddhist monk ordinations, death, and oaths of allegiance to the monarch, and the formation of a legal contract. Offering betel was a gesture of hospitality and most families kept a betel set in their home.

A betel set comprised a small tray with a tall rim, holding a betel leaf holder, boxes to keep the areca nut, cloves, tobacco and spices, a cutter to cut the fresh areca nut, a lime container, a spatula for the lime, a spittoon, and sometimes a small container for bees’ wax to smooth on the lips as balm. Older people wit no teeth smashed the areca nut in a cylindrical mortar and pestle, so that it could be sucked rather than chewed. Wealthy families’ sets were made of gold, silver or bronze, while poorer people had lacquerware or wood.

Silver animals, usually crouching, are often astrological and mythological creatures and birds. There were kneeling elephants with upturned trunks, reclining deer, chickens, turtles, quails, geese, tigers, rabbits and lions. Paired birds were symbols of fidelity and rabbits were symbols of fertility. There were also fruits, such as mangosteens, pumpkins, and clam shells. Uniquely Cambodian was the lime container in the shape of a gourd decorated with flowers.

The boxes were made in two parts with the cover being the top of the animal. The join is hardly visible and it looks like one piece. 

Silver is expensive, so only rich and elites could afford a complete set of silver betel utensils. Gold sets were reserved for the King and the Royal Palace. Commoners used boxes of brass and copper. Pure silver is usually considered too soft and is alloyed with another metal, such as copper, to make it more durable. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 parts copper and it’s the copper that oxidises and tarnishes.

Silver animal boxes were given as wedding gifts and so were treated as family heirlooms. They were also given on special occasions, such as a graduation, promotion or anniversary. Some were kept on the family altar, for example, an elephant holding a lotus to contain candles or incense sticks.

In Cambodia, as well as Thailand, the year was symbolised by a particular animal from a list of 12, so if you were born in the year of the tiger, you may be given a present of a silver box in the shape of a tiger. The cycle begins with the Year of the Rat.  It’s believed the classification came from the Middle East, adopted by India in the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC, going to China in the 1st century BC, from China to Vietnam and then Cambodia. The earliest Cambodian inscription mentioning the 12-year animal cycle was in 992 AD found in Angkhor Thom in the late 13th century.  The animal year of one’s birth  indicate a person’s personality and give a guide to good marriage partner, for example, a tiger and snake are not a good fit.

The astrological animals were the most popular silver boxes. Every one, apart from the dragon and rat are found in Cambodia. They are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Before 1945 silver coins, mostly French Indo-Chinese ‘piastre de commerce’, which were minted from 1885 to 1928 and again from 1931, and Chinese sycee (silver ingot, which looked like a shoe) money were used as the raw material. Coins from China, Mexico, Japan and the United States were also used.

Silverwork takes great concentration and as long as 5 years to master. Boxes were made by hand. Moulds were not used. Sometimes one person formed the animal shape and another finished and polished it. Some pieces are easier to make than others. Deer are very difficult. Semi-precious stones or glass were occasionally added, for example, to augment the eyes or chest. Pieces were not normally signed.

When tobacco was introduced to Cambodia, people, especially city dwellers, abandoned betel-chewing and turned to cigarettes. In the early decades of the 20th century, the silver betel set as symbol of prestige was replaced by tobacco and cigar boxes. Only elderly people, mostly women, and usually in the countryside, continued to chew it.

His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia gave silver animals as diplomatic gifts in the 1950s and 1960s to foreign guests and to decorate State residences, including the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

This fine, unusual, silver Cambodian lime box is in the shape of a puffer fish. It is realistic, chased and engraved all over with an expressive face and prominent tail. The lid fits tightly over the bottom half. Fish symbolise abundance, affluence and wealth. They also indicate health because many types of fish are medicinal.

A similar one is shown in Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia, Dawn Rooney, Oxford University Press, 1993 on page 60.

From 1914 – mid 20th century.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Lime Container 1 – Puffer Fish appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 8.5 cm, Length 10.5 cm, Width 7 cm
Order Number: MHSACHLC4

Silver objects have been found in Cambodia dating back 500 years. The Royal capital was in Udong from the 15th to the 19^th century.  In 1866 King Norodom  moved the capital to Phnom Penh. Some master gold and silversmiths moved from Udong with the court and occupied quarters not far from the Royal Palace. In the early 20th century there were also skilled silversmiths in Battambang.

There were early foreign accounts of silver in Cambodia. Chinese records of Kaing T’ai and Chu Ying (3 AD) said  ‘gold and silver were used for making utensils and decorated … ‘

In the 13th century, Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary who lived almost a year in Angkor between 1296 and 1297, says ‘Cambodian silversmiths are experts in relief work.’  He went on to say, ‘Every person dining in the houses of nobles or rich people is given silver plates, and sometimes even gold ones … Then came other girls carrying gold and silver vessels from the palace and a whole galaxy of ornaments, of very special design, the uses of which were strange to me.’

Bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar temples (12th century) depict people carrying richly decorated objects which look similar to silver pedestal-dishes produced by silversmiths in Koh Chen, Udong.

Zhou Daguan wrote, ‘No gold or silver is found in this country, to my knowledge, most in demand are Chinese gold and silver.’ In the 16th and 17th centuries,  there were European traders  and Portuguese advisers to the court.  Portugal and Spanish traders  imported silver from Mexico via the Philippines to Cambodia. In 1604 the Spanish priest Gabriel Quiroga de San Antonio mentioned the abundance of gold, silver and precious gems.  A considerable amount of silver was imported to Southeast Asia from China and Japan.

There was surface silver mining in Bo Sup Trup in Cambodia since at least 1877 and underground mining from 1905 until 1911.

Thomas Wallace Knox, an Englishman who traveled throughout Southeast Asian countries in the late 19th century, mentioned precious objects that he saw in the house of the Siem Reap governor in 1871 after being entertained to dinner, ‘The Governor exhibited his gold betel boxes and other paraphernalia. He told us that all were made by a Cambodian goldsmith in Siemrap (sic) from the gold and silver coins of Hue, the capital of Annam, of entirely pure metal, and they certainly were very elegant in design and finish. We most admired the cigar case. The other articles were a large dish which contained the ‘kit’, a gold betel-leaf and lime holder; a small gold tobacco-box; a silver cup, with cigars and little silver box, made in the form of a fish, containing a perfumed ointment, used by the native noblemen to anoint their lips and nostrils.’

Silver repoussé boxes were made to contain lime, one of the ingredients for betel chewing, and cosmetics. They usually have animal and plant motifs. Betel chewing was a way of life among Asian kings, aristocrats and the common people, socially and ceremonially, such as at betrothals, weddings, Buddhist monk ordinations, death, and oaths of allegiance to the monarch, and the formation of a legal contract. Offering betel was a gesture of hospitality and most families kept a betel set in their home.

A betel set comprised a small tray with a tall rim, holding a betel leaf holder, boxes to keep the areca nut, cloves, tobacco and spices, a cutter to cut the fresh areca nut, a lime container, a spatula for the lime, a spittoon, and sometimes a small container for bees’ wax to smooth on the lips as balm. Older people wit no teeth smashed the areca nut in a cylindrical mortar and pestle, so that it could be sucked rather than chewed. Wealthy families’ sets were made of gold, silver or bronze, while poorer people had lacquerware or wood.

Silver animals, usually crouching, are often astrological and mythological creatures and birds. There were kneeling elephants with upturned trunks, reclining deer, chickens, turtles, quails, geese, tigers, rabbits and lions. Paired birds were symbols of fidelity and rabbits were symbols of fertility. There were also fruits, such as mangosteens, pumpkins, and clam shells. Uniquely Cambodian was the lime container in the shape of a gourd decorated with flowers.

The boxes were made in two parts with the cover being the top of the animal. The join is hardly visible and it looks like one piece. 

Silver is expensive, so only rich and elites could afford a complete set of silver betel utensils. Gold sets were reserved for the King and the Royal Palace. Commoners used boxes of brass and copper. Pure silver is usually considered too soft and is alloyed with another metal, such as copper, to make it more durable. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 parts copper and it’s the copper that oxidises and tarnishes.

Silver animal boxes were given as wedding gifts and so were treated as family heirlooms. They were also given on special occasions, such as a graduation, promotion or anniversary. Some were kept on the family altar, for example, an elephant holding a lotus to contain candles or incense sticks.

In Cambodia, as well as Thailand, the year was symbolised by a particular animal from a list of 12, so if you were born in the year of the tiger, you may be given a present of a silver box in the shape of a tiger. The cycle begins with the Year of the Rat.  It’s believed the classification came from the Middle East, adopted by India in the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC, going to China in the 1st century BC, from China to Vietnam and then Cambodia. The earliest Cambodian inscription mentioning the 12-year animal cycle was in 992 AD found in Angkhor Thom in the late 13th century.  The animal year of one’s birth  indicate a person’s personality and give a guide to good marriage partner, for example, a tiger and snake are not a good fit.

The astrological animals were the most popular silver boxes. Every one, apart from the dragon and rat are found in Cambodia. They are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Before 1945 silver coins, mostly French Indo-Chinese ‘piastre de commerce’, which were minted from 1885 to 1928 and again from 1931, and Chinese sycee (silver ingot, which looked like a shoe) money were used as the raw material. Coins from China, Mexico, Japan and the United States were also used.

Silverwork takes great concentration and as long as 5 years to master. Boxes were made by hand. Moulds were not used. Sometimes one person formed the animal shape and another finished and polished it. Some pieces are easier to make than others. Deer are very difficult. Semi-precious stones or glass were occasionally added, for example, to augment the eyes or chest. Pieces were not normally signed.

When tobacco was introduced to Cambodia, people, especially city dwellers, abandoned betel-chewing and turned to cigarettes. In the early decades of the 20th century, the silver betel set as symbol of prestige was replaced by tobacco and cigar boxes. Only elderly people, mostly women, and usually in the countryside, continued to chew it.

His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia gave silver animals as diplomatic gifts in the 1950s and 1960s to foreign guests and to decorate State residences, including the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

This fine, unusual, silver Cambodian lime box is in the shape of a puffer fish. It is realistic, chased and engraved all over with an expressive face and prominent tail. The lid fits tightly over the bottom half. Fish symbolise abundance, affluence and wealth. They also indicate health because many types of fish are medicinal.

A similar one is shown in Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia, Dawn Rooney, Oxford University Press, 1993 on page 60.

From 1914 – mid 20th century.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Lime Container 2 – Puffer Fish appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 5 cm, Length 7.5 cm, Width 4.5 cm
Order Number: MHSACHLC5

Silver objects have been found in Cambodia dating back 500 years. The Royal capital was in Udong from the 15th to the 19^th century.  In 1866 King Norodom  moved the capital to Phnom Penh. Some master gold and silversmiths moved from Udong with the court and occupied quarters not far from the Royal Palace. In the early 20th century there were also skilled silversmiths in Battambang.

There were early foreign accounts of silver in Cambodia. Chinese records of Kaing T’ai and Chu Ying (3 AD) said  ‘gold and silver were used for making utensils and decorated … ‘

In the 13th century, Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary who lived almost a year in Angkor between 1296 and 1297, says ‘Cambodian silversmiths are experts in relief work.’  He went on to say, ‘Every person dining in the houses of nobles or rich people is given silver plates, and sometimes even gold ones … Then came other girls carrying gold and silver vessels from the palace and a whole galaxy of ornaments, of very special design, the uses of which were strange to me.’

Bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar temples (12th century) depict people carrying richly decorated objects which look similar to silver pedestal-dishes produced by silversmiths in Koh Chen, Udong.

Zhou Daguan wrote, ‘No gold or silver is found in this country, to my knowledge, most in demand are Chinese gold and silver.’ In the 16th and 17th centuries,  there were European traders  and Portuguese advisers to the court.  Portugal and Spanish traders  imported silver from Mexico via the Philippines to Cambodia. In 1604 the Spanish priest Gabriel Quiroga de San Antonio mentioned the abundance of gold, silver and precious gems.  A considerable amount of silver was imported to Southeast Asia from China and Japan.

There was surface silver mining in Bo Sup Trup in Cambodia since at least 1877 and underground mining from 1905 until 1911.

Thomas Wallace Knox, an Englishman who traveled throughout Southeast Asian countries in the late 19th century, mentioned precious objects that he saw in the house of the Siem Reap governor in 1871 after being entertained to dinner, ‘The Governor exhibited his gold betel boxes and other paraphernalia. He told us that all were made by a Cambodian goldsmith in Siemrap (sic) from the gold and silver coins of Hue, the capital of Annam, of entirely pure metal, and they certainly were very elegant in design and finish. We most admired the cigar case. The other articles were a large dish which contained the ‘kit’, a gold betel-leaf and lime holder; a small gold tobacco-box; a silver cup, with cigars and little silver box, made in the form of a fish, containing a perfumed ointment, used by the native noblemen to anoint their lips and nostrils.’

Silver repoussé boxes were made to contain lime, one of the ingredients for betel chewing, and cosmetics. They usually have animal and plant motifs. Betel chewing was a way of life among Asian kings, aristocrats and the common people, socially and ceremonially, such as at betrothals, weddings, Buddhist monk ordinations, death, and oaths of allegiance to the monarch, and the formation of a legal contract. Offering betel was a gesture of hospitality and most families kept a betel set in their home.

A betel set comprised a small tray with a tall rim, holding a betel leaf holder, boxes to keep the areca nut, cloves, tobacco and spices, a cutter to cut the fresh areca nut, a lime container, a spatula for the lime, a spittoon, and sometimes a small container for bees’ wax to smooth on the lips as balm. Older people wit no teeth smashed the areca nut in a cylindrical mortar and pestle, so that it could be sucked rather than chewed. Wealthy families’ sets were made of gold, silver or bronze, while poorer people had lacquerware or wood.

Silver animals, usually crouching, are often astrological and mythological creatures and birds. There were kneeling elephants with upturned trunks, reclining deer, chickens, turtles, quails, geese, tigers, rabbits and lions. Paired birds were symbols of fidelity and rabbits were symbols of fertility. There were also fruits, such as mangosteens, pumpkins, and clam shells. Uniquely Cambodian was the lime container in the shape of a gourd decorated with flowers.

The boxes were made in two parts with the cover being the top of the animal. The join is hardly visible and it looks like one piece. 

Silver is expensive, so only rich and elites could afford a complete set of silver betel utensils. Gold sets were reserved for the King and the Royal Palace. Commoners used boxes of brass and copper. Pure silver is usually considered too soft and is alloyed with another metal, such as copper, to make it more durable. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 parts copper and it’s the copper that oxidises and tarnishes.

Silver animal boxes were given as wedding gifts and so were treated as family heirlooms. They were also given on special occasions, such as a graduation, promotion or anniversary. Some were kept on the family altar, for example, an elephant holding a lotus to contain candles or incense sticks.

In Cambodia, as well as Thailand, the year was symbolised by a particular animal from a list of 12, so if you were born in the year of the tiger, you may be given a present of a silver box in the shape of a tiger. The cycle begins with the Year of the Rat.  It’s believed the classification came from the Middle East, adopted by India in the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC, going to China in the 1st century BC, from China to Vietnam and then Cambodia. The earliest Cambodian inscription mentioning the 12-year animal cycle was in 992 AD found in Angkhor Thom in the late 13th century.  The animal year of one’s birth  indicate a person’s personality and give a guide to good marriage partner, for example, a tiger and snake are not a good fit.

The astrological animals were the most popular silver boxes. Every one, apart from the dragon and rat are found in Cambodia. They are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Before 1945 silver coins, mostly French Indo-Chinese ‘piastre de commerce’, which were minted from 1885 to 1928 and again from 1931, and Chinese sycee (silver ingot, which looked like a shoe) money were used as the raw material. Coins from China, Mexico, Japan and the United States were also used.

Silverwork takes great concentration and as long as 5 years to master. Boxes were made by hand. Moulds were not used. Sometimes one person formed the animal shape and another finished and polished it. Some pieces are easier to make than others. Deer are very difficult. Semi-precious stones or glass were occasionally added, for example, to augment the eyes or chest. Pieces were not normally signed.

When tobacco was introduced to Cambodia, people, especially city dwellers, abandoned betel-chewing and turned to cigarettes. In the early decades of the 20th century, the silver betel set as symbol of prestige was replaced by tobacco and cigar boxes. Only elderly people, mostly women, and usually in the countryside, continued to chew it.

His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia gave silver animals as diplomatic gifts in the 1950s and 1960s to foreign guests and to decorate State residences, including the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

This fine, unusual, silver Cambodian lime box is in the shape of a puffer fish. It is realistic, chased and engraved all over with an expressive face and prominent tail. The lid fits tightly over the bottom half. Fish symbolise abundance, affluence and wealth. They also indicate health because many types of fish are medicinal.

A similar one is shown in Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia, Dawn Rooney, Oxford University Press, 1993 on page 60.

From 1914 – mid 20th century.

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

The post Antique Cambodian Lime Container 3 – Puffer Fish appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 16 cm, Diameter 5 cm
Order Number: MHSACLP1

The basic ingredients of a betel quid are betel leaf, areca nut and lime powder. Gambir and tobacco may be added  to make it more fragrant.

The containers and implements included boxes of various shapes and sizes to store the betel nuts,  betel leaf holders for the already prepared betel quid, lime containers, hinged cutters, similar to scissors, to cut the hard areca nut, knives to cut the softer nuts, pounders to crush the nut, salve boxes to hold beeswax for the lips, spittoons, tobacco pouches and trays on which they all were displayed.

Silver lime pots come in various shapes and sizes. Sometimes the copper which is an ingredient in the silver alloy causes green staining. This one from Cambodia is in the shape of a  tall long cylinder. The domed cover is shaped like a lotus bud and is about a third of the height. The lid and body is connected by a braided silver wire chain. The pot is beautifully decorated with chased floral designs.

This lime pot, with a removable top, held powdered lime for the betel quid.  There are traces of dried white lime inside.

There are similar examples in Thai Silver and Nielloware, Paul Bromberg, River Books, 2019, page 88 and in Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia, Dawn Rooney, Oxford University Press, 1993 Colour Plate 23.

Early 20th century

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

The post Antique Cambodian Lime Pot 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver, buffalo horn
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 15 cm, Diameter 3 cm
Order Number: MHSACLP2

The basic ingredients of a betel quid are betel leaf, areca nut and lime powder. Gambir and tobacco may be added  to make it more fragrant.

The containers and implements included boxes of various shapes and sizes to store the betel nuts,  betel leaf holders for the already prepared betel quid, lime containers, hinged cutters, similar to scissors, to cut the hard areca nut, knives to cut the softer nuts, pounders to crush the nut, salve boxes to hold beeswax for the lips, spittoons, tobacco pouches and trays on which they all were displayed.

Silver lime pots come in various shapes and sizes. Sometimes the copper which is an ingredient in the silver alloy causes green staining. This one from Cambodia is in the shape of a  tall long cylinder. The domed cover is shaped like a lotus bud and is about a third of the height. The lid and body is connected by a braided silver wire chain. The pot is beautifully decorated with chased floral designs.

This lime pot, with a removable top, held powdered lime for the betel quid.  There are traces of dried white lime inside.

There are similar examples in Thai Silver and Nielloware, Paul Bromberg, River Books, 2019, page 88 and in Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia, Dawn Rooney, Oxford University Press, 1993 Colour Plate 23.

Early 20th century

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

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Material: Silver
Style: Cambodia
Size: Height 2.5 cm, Width 2 cm
Order Number: MHSACR1

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Cambodia.

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Material: Silver
Style: China
Size: Diameter 6 cm, Width 2 cm
Order Number: MHSACB1

During the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912) wealthy Chinese Han aristocracy, Mongol and rich minority women  loved and wore silver bracelets. Some were given as betrothal gifts. The minorities gave then as presents to their future wives.

They served as both as ornaments and status symbols. The wealthier the person, the more they owned. A rich woman often commissioned silversmiths to make them pieces and they were passed down from generation to generation.

There are Chinese characters.

The Sanxing (Three Stars) are the gods of the three celestial bodies considered essential in Chinese astrology and mythology: Jupiter, Ursa Major, and Canopus. They are Fu, Lu, and Shou.

Fu, Lu, and Shou are also the embodiments of Fortune (Fu), presiding over the planet Jupiter, Prosperity (Lu), presiding over Ursa Major,, and Longevity (Shou) presiding over Canopus.

They emerged from Chinese folk religion. Their representation as three, old, bearded, wise men dates back to the Ming dynasty, when the gods of the three stars were represented in human form for the first time.

Statues of these three gods are found on the facades of folk religion’s temples and ancestral shrines, in nearly every Chinese home and on small altars in shops with a glass of water, an orange or other auspicious offerings, especially during Chinese New Year.

Traditionally, they are arranged right to left (so Shou is on the left of the viewer, Lu in the middle, and Fu on the far right).

The clasp has a chain with a very small delicate key and heart hanging from it.

Early – Mid 20th century.

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Material: Silver?
Style: China
Size:  Length 21 cm, Width 2 cm
Order Number: MHSACHH1

A woman’s hairpin in the Qing dynasty (1636–1912) displayed her status and was a large part of her dowry. Parents gave hairpins to their daughter for her dowry.

Noblewomen wore much of their wealth in their hair. Hairpins were of all sizes. Distinct ethnic hairstyles required distinct hairpins. They displayed symbols for happiness, fertility, wealth and marital bliss.

The hairpin seems to have a man’s face at the top, with an elaborate headdress. There are symbols of animals on both sides.

Early – mid 20th century.

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

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Material: Silver
Style: China
Size:  Diameter 2 cm
Order Number: MHSACHA1

The tradition of jewelry-making in China goes back at least to the Neolithic Period, and silver work at least as far back as 300 BC. Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912) silversmiths combined usefulness with elegance, grace and beauty.

Chinese  infants’ and children’s hats were elaborately embroidered and designed to give protection from evil spirits, demons and ghosts. They were worn until about the age of five. Maternal grandmothers made them and decorated them with silver amulets for protection and status.

The adornments, which would have been sewn in, represent the Eight Immortals. In Chinese mythology, the Ba Xian or Eight Immortals, are a group of legendary heroes who  fight for justice and against evil.

The Immortals are human beings, who became immortal through self-cultivation. They sit between human beings and gods and act as mediators between earth and heaven. They are models for achieving immortality through leading a morally blameless life.

They are important figures in Taoism and are the subject of many paintings, potteries and sculptures.

The Eight Immortals.

Their names are:

• Cao Guo Jiu—holding a jade tablet.
• Han Xiang Zi—holding or playing a flute, a musical prodigy.
• He Xian Gu—the only woman of the Ba Xian. She carries a lotus flower or a reed pipe instrument called the sheng. 
• Lan Cai He—holding a basket of fruit.
• Li Ti Guai—holding a cane and gourd.
• Lü Dong Bin—dressed in scholar’s robes and holding a large sword.
• Zhang Guo Lao—riding a white mule and carrying a bamboo fish  drum, mallets and a peach of immortality.
• Zhong Li Quan—wearing robes that reveal his bare belly and a long beard that reaches his navel.

The Ba Xian are still popular subjects in art, literature,  movies and television.

There are examples in Four Centuries of Silver, Personal Adornment in the Qing Dynasty and After, Margaret Duda, Times Editions, 2002, page 129.

20th century.

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

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Material: Silver
Style: China
Size:  Height 2.5 cm, Width 2 cm
Order Number: MHSACHA2

The tradition of jewelry-making in China goes back at least to the Neolithic Period, and silver work at least as far back as 300 BC. Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912) silversmiths combined usefulness with elegance, grace and beauty.

Chinese  infants’ and children’s hats were elaborately embroidered and designed to give protection from evil spirits, demons and ghosts. They were worn until about the age of five. Maternal grandmothers made them and decorated them with silver amulets for protection and status.

The adornments, which would have been sewn in, represent the Eight Immortals. In Chinese mythology, the Ba Xian or Eight Immortals, are a group of legendary heroes who  fight for justice and against evil.

The Immortals are human beings, who became immortal through self-cultivation. They sit between human beings and gods and act as mediators between earth and heaven. They are models for achieving immortality through leading a morally blameless life.

They are important figures in Taoism and are the subject of many paintings, potteries and sculptures.

The Eight Immortals.

Their names are:

• Cao Guo Jiu—holding a jade tablet.
• Han Xiang Zi—holding or playing a flute, a musical prodigy.
• He Xian Gu—the only woman of the Ba Xian. She carries a lotus flower or a reed pipe instrument called the sheng. 
• Lan Cai He—holding a basket of fruit.
• Li Ti Guai—holding a cane and gourd.
• Lü Dong Bin—dressed in scholar’s robes and holding a large sword.
• Zhang Guo Lao—riding a white mule and carrying a bamboo fish  drum, mallets and a peach of immortality.
• Zhong Li Quan—wearing robes that reveal his bare belly and a long beard that reaches his navel.

The Ba Xian are still popular subjects in art, literature,  movies and television.

One (bottom right) is missing and has been replaced by the same one on bottom left and the 2nd one on both rows look the same.

There are examples in Four Centuries of Silver, Personal Adornment in the Qing Dynasty and After, Margaret Duda, Times Editions, 2002, page 129.

20th century.

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

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