Portable lime box

Southeast Asian Collection

Accession Nr.: 978.1-2
Type: object for daily use; metalwork
Date of production:
before 1914
Place of production:
Acquisition: collection of Ferenc Hopp
Materials/Techniques: silver, gilt, niello
Dimensions: height: 1. 7 cm
diameter: 2. 5 cm
A portable lime box (sirih kapor) with a hanging tab consisting of two interconnected parts. Decorated in niello, a popular technique of the silversmithes of contemporary Siam, with its spectacular surface, showing floral motifs. The niello is a rather elaborate craft technique that was introduced to Thailand by the Portuguese or the Persians. It was mainly the aristocrats of the time who commissioned craftsmen to make niello objects.