Rajasthani Mughal Decorative Copper Lidded Betel Spice Pandan Caddy Box
$1,950.00
Rajasthani Mughal Decorative Copper Lidded Betel Spice Pandan Caddy Box.
Handcrafted decorative North India round metal Asian copper Mughal Raj, Indian lidded , spice, pandan betel box with latch and a top handle.
Of dome form with lotus-shaped finial, with spiralling bosse designs,
Delicately and intricately hand-chased and hammered with geometric Anglo-Indian designs.
Consuming betel leaves with several ingredients such as wet lime paste, katechu, areca nut, cloves and even tobacco leaves has been popular in India from the fourth century AD.
The box was probably used to store the betel leaf used in the preparation of paan. Lime paste is mixed with grated areca nut and flavourings and the resulting mixture is rolled in the betel leaf to form a small parcel which can then be chewed. As well as being an integral part of Indian hospitality paan is believed to possess medicinal properties and was also taken as an aphrodisiac. The present box, which was elaborately designed for this purpose, would have been taken out ceremoniously on special occasions.
Exquisite conversation museum quality piece with a very nice antique patina.
Fine intricate artwork with conical form lid with Moorish pierced designs.
Islamic Mughal Indo Persian Art Collector piece of hammered and pierced metalwork.
Handmade in India, Rajasthan.
Mughal style Late 19th century.
