Burmese Gilded Shwezawa-work Lacquered Betel Box (Kun-it)

This well-proportioned cylindrical box is decorated in gold leaf and black lacquer, a technique known as shwezawa work. It is based on a betel box, and might have been intended as one, although it does not have the internal trays that most traditional lacquered betel boxes had.

It is decorated with a ground of coils of chu-pan foliage. (Lacquered items with similar gilded designs are illustrated in Green, 2008, p. 171-72).

The side is decorated with eight cartouches, one for each of the eight Burmese animal motifs of the week (gyo-hsit-lon).

The top of the lid is decorated with a central figure of a Burmese lion motif (chinthe).

The interior is of plain, black lacquer, as is the underside of the base.

The box is in excellent condition with only minor rubbing to the gold leaf.