Product Description

Antique Shan State Betel Box 2

Material: Silver
Style: Shan State
Size: Height 20 cm, Diameter 24 cm
Order Number: MHSASBBB2

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 geometric bands between boldly conceived, well-finished repoussé decoration are characteristic of Shan craftsmanship.

The sides are embellished with signs of the zodiac. A horned animal, maybe a ram or goat, crowns the lid surrounded by decoration. The base has a geometric decoration in the middle of which is  a ram-looking animal.

1162 grams.

Early 20th century.

There is a similar one in Burmese Crafts Past and Present, Sylvia Fraser-Lu, Oxford University Press, 1994, figure 34.

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