A skilled silversmith in Burma made this beautifully embossed and engraved lidded box. The small tableaus that encircle it represent episodes from Jataka tales, or previous lives of the Buddha, that are familiar to the Bamar/Burman people.
The handsome rectangular shape may have been a box for cheroots or locally enjoyed cigars. This type of elegant object was used for many utilitarian and decorative purposes in aristocratic Burmese homes and greatly admired and collected by the English Victorian civil service stationed there. It is in excellent condition and measures approximately 9 in. x 6.5 in.x 3 in. high. It weighs approximately 2.5 lbs.
For information on the labor-intensive process to create this form of silver-work please see: Burmese Crafts Past and Present by Sylvia Fraser-Lu, 1994, Oxford University Press, New York.
