Enquiry about object: 3728
Colonial Silver Filigree Box
Karimnagar, India, or Dutch East Indies 18th-early 19th century
length: 9.1cm, width: 6.2cm, height: 3.5cm, weight: 154g
Provenance
UK art market
This beautiful box features fine silver filigree work to all sides other than the base which is of plain, hammered silver sheet. The filigree comprises a mix of thicker, flatter silver wire and extremely fine silver filigree.
The hinged lid fits tightly over the base.
Determining the precise origins of such filigree work is difficult. It was undertaken in India, China, the Middle East, Islamic Africa and in the Malay world, including Batavia (now Jakarta), Sulawesi and the southern Philippines.
The work on this box is similar to published examples that have been attributed to Karimnagar in India and to Batavia of the Dutch East Indies.
The box is in fine condition. There is a small area of filigree on one side that might have been repaired, but it is barely perceptible.
References
Piotrovsky, M. et al, Silver: Wonders from the East – Filigree of the Tsars, Lund Humphries/Hermitage Amsterdam, 2006.
