Rare Sikkim Jewel Chest with Gilded Copper Mounts Inset with Coral & Turquoise

This rare and decorative wooden chest is covered all over with embossed, gilded plaques and studs, many of which are inset with turquoise and coral cabochons. It stands on four short legs, has a hinged cover, and a wire-wrapped handle on top. It is decorated on all sides, including the back.

The chest is from Sikkim – formerly a former independent Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas and since 1975, a part of Himalayan India. Almost certainly intended as a jewel chest, it might also have been used in a monastery to store valuable or revered religious objects such as a ghanta (sacred bell.) Using embossed metal plaques to decorate furniture items all over is typical of Sikkim work, though such items are rarely encountered. Indeed, items from Sikkim and nearby Ladakh rarely are encountered often because they are mis-identified as Tibetan and then languish obscured in wider Tibetan collections.

The interior of the chest here has a pull-out tray, and has been lined with blue velvet, but it is likely that this was done later in the UK.

The chest is in very fine condition. Several small plaques are missing but this is relatively minor given their profusion overall. All inlaid stones are present. This is a rare item, and highly decorative.

Above: Tashi Namgyal, the 11th ruler of Sikkim’s Namgyal dynasty, pictured in 1938 with the leader of a visiting German delegation. They are seated around an extraordinary table, the rim and top of which are decorated with metal plaques in the manner of the jewel chest here.