Dutch Colonial Tortoiseshell Betel Box with Silver Mounts

This fine Dutch colonial betel or sirih box from Batavia, in the Dutch East Indies (Jakarta and Indonesia today), comprises sides of fine honey-coloured tortoiseshell and silver mounts. The silver corner mounts are in the form of stylised clouds suggesting Chinese influence. The key-plate is of silver in the form of a stylised double-headed eagle.

The box sits on four solid-cast silver feet. Key rivets are hidden by prominent silver domed bolt covers: two on the front, four on the hinged cover, and two on the rear. Handles cut from silver sheet are attached to each side.

Prominent silver hinge flanges are attached to the inside of the box, and attach the lid or cover to the base.

The Javanese habit of chewing betel was adopted by the local Dutch and exquisite boxes to hold the nut, the betel leaf and the other accompaniments were commissioned by the Dutch. The Dutch realised early on how important betel was to the indigenous people and how it was an essential part of hospitality including with the indigenous rulers. They quickly incorporated betel use with their dealings with local elites. Paintings that show the wives of Dutchmen at the time often show betel boxes prominently displayed. One such seventeenth century painting by J.J. Coeman which today hangs in the Rijksmuseum shows Batavia’s Cornelia van Nieuwenroode with her husband Pieter Cnoll and two of their nine daughters, one of who is shown holding a jewelled betel box (Gelman Taylor, 2009, p. 42).

The fashion for luxurious betel accoutrements and other finery saw the governor-general in Batavia Jacob Mossel issue a decree in 1754 stating that only the wives and widows of the governor-general, the director-general, members of the Council of the Indies and president of the Justice Council were permitted to use gold or silver betel boxes adorned with precious stones, (Zandvlieyt, 2002, p. 206).

The silver is without maker’s or assay marks. There is some age-related ditortion to the tortoiseshell and the tortoiseshell panel at the back of the box has an old but stable crack. Overall, it is a fine example with clear age.