Northern Indian Silver Paan or Betel Box

This found silver box with a domed, and then flattened, hinged cover, was used to store the ingredients to make a betel or paan quid.

Betel or paan is a mild social narcotic that was used widely across South and Southeast Asia. A latch to the cover would have allowed the box to be closed with a small padlock.

The box has been chased all over with Islamic-inspired vegetal scrollwork. The top of the cover has been decorated with an eight-petalled flower motif.

This actual box is illustrated in Weereratne (1999, p. 138) a book on the collection of Sir Christopher Ondaatje.  Ondaatje is of Sinhalese and Dutch ancestry and was born in Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was known) in 1933. A businessman, writer and Olympian, he is the older brother of author Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient, among other works.