Burmese Colonial Silver

Two Unusually High-Relief Repoussed Boxes & Covers

These two solid silver boxes date to the early twentieth century of colonial Burma. Both are repoussed with lids that have almost improbably high relief, especially considering both boxes’ relatively small diameters. The lid of one is repoussed with an elaborate peacock (a motif associated with royalty in Burma). The lid of the other is repoussed in especially high relief with a male and female figures in fine, traditional Burmese dress.

The sides of both boxes are decorated with six panels each with a Burmese bird or animal.

The base of the peacock box is engraved with an elephant-headed bird. The base of the other is plain.

Both boxes are in fine condition with little wear from polishing. One has some slight malformation to the rim of the lid probably on account of the excessive high relief of the design on the lid.

Fraser-Lu, S., Silverware of South-East Asia, Oxford University Press, 1989.

UK art market