Rosewood & Paktong Travelling Opium Box Set

This rare travelling opium set is made of lustrous rosewood and has paktong (baitung) mounts. Probably from southern China, it dates to the 19th century.

It contains all the elements an opium user would need other than the pipe itself, all in one compact box, and so was intended to be taken travelling.

Such a box was an item of luxury and would have been afforded only by a member of the aristocracy or a leading merchant.

The box has a removable ‘door’ held in place by a latch mounted. The cover or door pulls away to reveal two interior compartments. The larger, upper compartment holds a rosewood tray in which paktong opium accoutrements are held such as an oil lamp, and storage boxes. Each has a lid that is engraved with scenes of birds and plants. The corners of the oil lamp are decorated with pierced, long-life roundels.

The lower compartments holds a paktong tray which provided a flat surface on which the opium block could be prepared, and the pipe head cleaned.

Paktong is a silvery, hard metal comprised of copper, zinc, brass and nickel.

The receptacles are all in very fine condition with only one minor area of loss to one area of fretwork. The rosewood box has a marvellous patina and probably old repairs but these have blended in time with the box.