Rare Zanzibar Gold & Silver Domed Betel (Tambuu) Box

This superb box known as a tambuu is a rare example of what is likely to be Zanzibar court arts.

It is of silver with applied panels of thick gold sheet, intended to hold betel or paan, a mild social narcotic used from Southeast Asia, South Asia and from there, parts of East Africa. It is the finest example of a Zanzibar tambuu that we have seen.

With tapering, cylindrical sides, the box has thick silver walls inset with multiple solid gold sheet panels, each embossed with flower motifs in trellis form. These are in strip form and are placed at angles over the walls of the box, alternating with similarly worked silver. The effect is stunning.

The lid is tightly fitting. It is domed and similarly decorated, and surmounted by a gold-covered finial shaped as a serrated fruit. It ‘overhangs’ the base and has a ‘beaded’ edge.

The box has all the multicultural elements one might expect for an item from 18th-19th century Zanzibar. The function is Indian – the use of betel or paan was introduced from India. Overall, the box and cover have an Islamic architectural form, as might be expected given Zanzibar’s imported sultanate which came from Oman. The manner of applying the gold is similar to that done in Oman. And the vivid depiction of flowers reflects the tropical environment of East Africa.

We know of only a handful of other such boxes. One was offered recently by us. Another comprised lot 406 of Sotheby’s London ‘Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Art’, November 23, 1987. The box at that time was catalogued (incorrectly) as Sinhalese and was attributed to the 18th-19th century. The Sotheby’s box was almost identical to the box here, although with a diameter of 9.5cm was significantly smaller. Importantly, that box had a gold band running around the lower part of the base (but not one running around the underside of the rim as our does – that appeared to be missing) and that band was decorated with repeated circular sun-burst motifs.

Inset gold plaques decorated with this motif seem to be characteristic of Zanzibar work. Such panels can be seen on the ivory hilts of Omani-influenced swords that were manufactured in Zanzibar in the eighteenth century. Examples of these swords are illustrated in Hales (2013, pp. 237-139). The same panels also appear on an ivory hair comb that we had and which was attributable to Zanzibar and which is now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (see here for the comb.) The Sotheby’s example with its gold plaques allows us to attribute the example here to Zanzibar.

Zanzibar items are rare – and yet Zanzibar was an important centre for trade especially in ivory, slaves, spices, grain and many other items. It linked the east coast of Africa to the Middle East and to India. As a consequence, it was an important centre for raw materials for the production of luxury goods that were subsequently traded around the world, including to Europe and the United States. It was ruled by an Islamic sultan installed in a local palace and as a consequence there was demand for local production of luxury goods as well, for the palace and related aristocrats and wealthy merchants and also to be given as diplomatic gifts. It is in this context that the gold and silver box here can be considered.

Zanzibar comprises two larger islands and a series of smaller islands 25-50 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. Arab traders visited and traded with the islands for many centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Zanzibar was under Portuguese control. And in 1698, it was sized by the Sultanate of Oman, and a ruling Arab elite with a local sultan was installed which developed the local economy further enhancing its trading links with the Middle East and with India.

Important trading communities of Muscat-descended Arabs and Indian Muslims established themselves in Zanzibar. The Indian Muslims comprised Ismailis – Khojas – and Bohoras particularly. Parsees from India also were another significant community. Another Muslim community, the Wahadimu, evolved too, by intermarriage between Africans and Arabs. Other groups included Ceylonese, Christian Goanese of Portuguese and Indian descent, and Indian Baluchis.

Zanzibar became renown as a source of ivory, spices and slaves. It also became a regional entrepot and was an important source of goods that were traded into Africa. The Sultan of Zanzibar also controlled parts of the East African coast which also facilitated this. By the mid-19th century, Zanzibar was the biggest slave centre in East Africa with around 50,000 slaves passing through its docks each year.

By the late 19th century, Zanzibar was under the control of the British. The islands gained independence from Britain in December 1963. A month later, the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba was formed in a revolution that saw thousands of Arabs and Indians killed. The following April, the republic was subsumed into the mainland former colony of Tanganyika (later Tanzania). Zanzibar today has semi-autonomous status.

The box here is in perfect condition.

It came from the estate of Mary Crew-Milnes, the Duchess of Roxburgh and was kept at her country house, West Horsley Place, until her death in 2014. Her godmother was Queen Mary and her mother was a daughter of the Earl of Rosebery, a former British prime minister. Mary married the Duke of Roxburgh in 1935, although they later divorced. It was acquired by us, sold to a private collector based in the UK, and has now returned to us.