Featured Mystery Box?

Mine aren't as beautiful as yours though, they are mostly humble folk art/ethnic boxes.
And most aren't photographed yet. It is on my to do list.

 

Yowzah !!!!!!! that's a box and a half !!!!!!

 

Folk art and ethnic boxes are the best type, I only posted the vanity box because it was the first box in the list of photos. Yes it is a stunner, full of hallmarked silver but these are quite common and can be bought for less these days than they were 2 years ago. The skill is in the art work and seeing as you don't have photos yet I will post up another, this time some folk art.

 

Solid figured sandalwood around 1790-1810 Vizagapatam, India. It is missing the handle, I'm yet to see one of these that isn't. This one has had the evidence of the handle removed and filled https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/d...nglo-indian-vizagapatam-casket/id-f_11821873/

 

Thank you, it is a chunk of a box.

 

Lovely example of a Vizagapatam box. These are now going for ridiculous money.

 

I bought a nice and unusual Indian box from Nagina recently (not quite as grand as Ravers) which complements my Indian silver collection. The box itself is unusual as it has 4 pegs in the lid that slot into holes in the body of the box rather than hinges and the base is smaller than the lid so the sides of the box slope.

 

Fantastic box, I love Nagina boxes, yours is a very good one as the carving is nice and crisp. It amazes me the antique world doesn't put these fantastic works on a higher pedestal, the V&A has long seen them for what they are. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O71111/inkstand-abdullah-muhammad/
I did a thread on Nagina carving, since then I have more pieces including a table, watch stand and other boxes https://www.antiquers.com/threads/nagina-carving-a-lost-art.18592/

 

Would love to see them, raver.

 

Sorry Rabid I didn't see you were apart of the original thread years ago, are you still collecting Anglo Indian? Do you collect Sadeli?

 

I will get round to taking some pictures of my whole Nagina collection soon but for now another Vizagapatam box as I have photos

 

Oh, I'm not picky when it comes to such beauties. Exquisite boxes.

 

I know someone with deep enough pockets can buy whatever they want but unfortunately that's not me.
I have searched the net for bargains for years and condition with these boxes is everything, often I have to restore them. Take the Sadeli box above, when I first got that the metal had oxidised, it also stood out so it needed lightly sanding back flat, a very risky restoration because you risk the micro mosaics falling out.

 

Hoshiarpur boxes are another one of my guilty pleasures, I have a few these days, this one is early and very nice.

 

I know, and you always do an excellent job.
You are lucky that you live in the country where most of these boxes ended up.
I have that with Indonesian keris and other Indonesian antiques and art.

Yes, it is. And a table to match.

 

stunning

 

more stunning

 

lovely

 

but hey....we know u love that table.....and we admire it too.....
but it takes away from the boxes you've photoed , as they should stand alone !!

could ya use a tablecloth.....maybe ??

 

I saw the thread and we exchanged a couple of messages. The Sadeli boxes you have are amazing. Even the ones in poor condition are quite pricey now

No worries. It was a while ago . Yes I am. I have a few small pieces of Sadeli but not many as these items are very expensive, even the damaged ones and I don’t have the talent that you have for finding the bargains or the skill you have for repairing them. I have continued to collect Nagina items which can be reasonable, although these are also getting harder to find at the right price. Increasingly I am turning to Indian repousse silver. Because most of it’s not hallmarked, there are amazing quality items out there with beautiful workmanship at very reasonable and sometimes bargain prices. The silver also compliments the ebonised wood of the Nagina items. I’ll post a photo on here shortly.