Burmese Lacquer Betel Box

Pictures below are the two Burmese lacquer boxes from my collection. The first one is with a deep, close-fitting lid with two interior trays. This luminous cinnabar-colored box suggest that it was used to carry a personal supply of ingredients for assembling a quid of betel. Betel leaves would have been stored in the bottom and areca nuts, lime and spices carried on the trays. A subtle tortoise shell design covers the top and side of the lid. The side and bottom of the box are decorated with narrow bands of incised lines. The box is made of thin strips of coiled bamboo covered with many coats of black and cinnabar-colored lacquer, a process that produced light and durable lacquer ware.

Lacquer Box 1
Height : 16.5cm, Diameter : 18.5cm

Lacquer Box 1

Lacquer Box 1

Lacquer Box 1

Below is another type of Burmese betel box, finely lacquered and incised with orange, green, red, black and yellow lacquer. It is decorated with outdoor scenes and bands of flowers with several panels of old-style Burmese scripts.

Lacquer Box 2
Height : 14.5cm, Diameter : 16.5cm

Lacquer Box 2

Lacquer Box 2

Lacquer Box 2

Lacquer Box 2

Antique Chinese Beard Comb

This is a very unique item from China which is believed to be used by the noble men for grooming their beard. In ancient Chinese customs, people were not supposed to cut their hair or shave their beard. The reason was due to Confucian rites and filial piety. Confucian rites regarded that the hair and body were given to you by your parents. Thus, it would be a taboo and disrespectful to your parents if you shave and cut your hair. That is why most ancient Chinese did not cut their hair and usually left their hair and beard growing long.

Length : 8cm.

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Copper Pandan Box From India

Pictures below showing early tinned copper pandan box from India. Pandan is an Urdu and Hindi name. It is used for storing betel leaf, betel nut, dry tobacco and lime. It is commonly used in India by Marquis, Nawab Earl and also in Pakistan. It is made from heavy copper and is from the city of Moradabad, India. Moradabad is also called 'brass city'. Measures 14cm high and 27cm wide with a hinged lid. The weight is 3.5kg. It is with hand tooled design depicting flowers and vines, with wonderful, deep rich old patina.

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Wild Boar Tusk Medicine Container

Pictures below show a wild boar tusk medicine container from Indonesia. The container is made of the wild boar tusk and used as medicine container. The stopper is made of deer horn.

Length : 26.5cm.

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Peranakan Octagonal Silver Tray

Yet another wedding item of Peranakan family from my collection, an octagonal silver tray with the motifs of peacocks standing on the bamboo tree, signifying status and prosperity for which Peranakans are well known for in the past due to their elite standing during the colonial period. The border of the tray is chased with a rabbit and a pair of cranes in the forest.

Bamboo is a symbol of old age and modesty, meanwhile peacock symbolises dignity and beauty. Symbolic rabbit meanings deal primarily with abundance, comfort and vulnerability. Traditionally, rabbits are associated with fertility, sentiment, desire and procreation. As for the cranes (in pairs), it symbolises happiness in love and suggestive of romance, long marriage, devotion, affection, conjugal fidelity, togetherness, ultimate longevity and enduring love.

Size : 27cm x 27cm.

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Peranakan Chinese Chased Silver Phoenix Tray With Open-Work

This open-work silver tray with scalloped edges, chased and engraved with phoenixes and scrolling floral work appears to accord with the tastes of the Peranakan Chinese of Java, Indonesia and most probably dates to around 1920. It sits on a low foot ring.

The Peranakan Chinese were the localised Chinese - those Chinese who had been on Java for several or more generations and who had become acculturated with the Javanese and other indigenous populations.

Phoenixes were long associated with weddings among the localised Chinese of Southeast Asia so perhaps this tray was commissioned for use in the elaborate and days long wedding ceremonies and celebrations that the Peranakans and Babas and Nyonyas staged.

The silver is without shop or maker's marks. Size : 34cm x 24.5cm.

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How To Test Silver

Perhaps you have bought a piece of silver online from a dodgy site, or your friend gave you a piece she found. Maybe you just want to check out some family heirlooms that you're not totally sure are real. Whatever your reason, you'll need to know how to test your silver. Silver is a versatile chemical element. Sterling silver is 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent other metals, primarily copper. It is harder than pure silver. Pure silver is soft and often called "fine silver." Products often can be mistaken as silver if they are silver plated (merely covered with a thin layer of fine silver). Here are steps to begin testing your silver.

1. Look for a stamp. Items advertised as silver and sold internationally should be stamped based on the silver content. If there is no stamp, be leery. It may be still be pure silver, but created in a country that doesn't require stamping. Then, evaluate the international silver stamp rating. Look at the silver piece with a magnifying glass. International sellers of silver will stamp silver as 925, 900 or 800. These numbers indicate the percentage of fine silver in the piece. 925 means that the piece is 92.5 percent silver. A stamp of 900 or 800 means the piece is 90 percent or 80 percent silver, and is often called "coin" silver.

2. Test with a magnet. In particular, use a strong magnet, such as the rare-earth magnet made out of neodymium. Silver is paramagnetic and exhibits only weak magnetic effects. If your magnet sticks strongly to the piece, it has a ferromagnetic core and is not silver. Keep in mind that there are a few other metals that do not stick to a magnet and can be made to look like silver. It is better to perform the magnetic test in conjunction with another test to make sure the core is not another metal. If you are testing silver bars, there is another way you can use a magnet to see if your silver is real or not. Try the sliding test. Angle one of your silver bars so that it is at a 45 degree angle. Slide the magnet down it. The magnet should slide slowly down the face of the bar. This may seem counter intuitive, but silver is paramagnetic and the rare earth magnet induces electric eddy currents in the silver which act as an electromagnet to create a braking effect that slows the descent of the magnet.

3. Have some ice on hand. Keep it in the freezer until you need it for the test. While it might not seem like ice and silver go together, silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any common metal or alloy, though copper is right behind. This test works well with coins and bars but will be harder to perform on silver jewelry. Place your piece of ice directly on the silver. Do not take your eyes off of it. The ice will begin to melt immediately, as if it has been placed on something hot, rather than as if it was placed on something that was just room temperature.

4. Try the ring test with any coin. Silver makes a really lovely bell-like ringing sound when it is tapped on, particularly when it is tapped on with another form of metal. If you want to try this out before tapping on your questionable silver, find a United States quarter made before 1965. These were made of 90% silver while US quarters made later than 1964 are made of a copper-nickel alloy. The older quarter will give a high-pitched, clear ringing tone, while the newer quarters will give a dull thump of a sound. You can also perform the test by dropping your own coin on a flat surface from about six inches above it. If it makes a sound like a bell ringing, you have a real silver coin in your hand. If it's dull, the silver is, most likely, mixed with other metals.

5. Perform a chemical test analysis on the item. Use a chemical analysis if there's no stamp signifying it is silver on your piece. Put on a pair of gloves. You will be using a corrosive acid to test the piece for purity. These sort of acids burn skin. Note that this method has the potential to slightly damage your silver item. If you suspect you have a high value item, you might be better off trying to determine the silver content using one of the other methods listed here. Buy a silver acid test. You can purchase it at jewelry stores. Silver acid tests are great for pure silver, but if you think your piece is silver plated, you will have to use a small jeweler's file to make a mark, revealing what might be under the plating. Find an inconspicuous place on the item in question and make a small scratch on the silver piece. This is necessary to get to the underlying metal to test it with acid. Scratch the piece using a metal file. Scratch the surface enough so that you can get beyond any silver plating layer. If you don’t want to scratch your piece, or potentially leave a mark from the acid, use a black stone plate. These are generally provided with a silver testing kit, or will be sold in the same store. Rub your silver on the surface of the black stone so that it leaves a thick and relatively large deposit on the stone. Aim for a line that is one to one-half inch thick. Apply a drop of acid to the scratched surface only. If the acid touches any area of the piece that isn't scratched, it will affect the polished look of the piece. If you chose to use a black stone, add a drop of the acid on the line that you created on your stone. Analyze the scratched surface with the acid on it. You will have to analyze the color that appears as the acid sinks into the piece. Be sure to follow the instructions and color scale of your specific silver test. In general, the color scale is as follows:
Bright Red: Fine Silver
Darker Red: 925 Silver
Brown: 800 Silver
Green: 500 Silver
Yellow: Lead or Tin
Dark brown: Brass
Blue: Nickel

6. Silver tarnishes extremely quickly when exposed to a powerful oxidizing agent such as common bleach. Simply put a drop of bleach on your item. Watch for tarnishing or no reaction. If it rapidly tarnishes and turns black, then the item is silver. Note that silver plated items will pass this test.

Remember!
*If performing the chemical test to determine silver quality, use a pair of gloves, as the nitric acid is extremely corrosive.
*Flush your skin if it comes into direct contact with the nitric acid. After rinsing your skin well, apply sodium bicarbonate or baking soda to the area of skin that the nitric acid touched.
*Try to buy your silver from credible sources such as quality jewelers.

Chinese Ivory Necklace

Ivory is a hard, white material, derived from the tusks and teeth of animals, that is used in art or manufacturing. It consists of dentine, a tissue that is similar to bone. It has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, and dominoes. Elephant ivory has been the most important source, but ivory from many species including the hippopotamus, walrus, pig, elk, sperm whale, and narwhal have been used. Today, in an effort to protect threatened animal populations, many countries restrict or ban the sale, transport and use of ivory.

There are many items on the market today being represented and sold as ivory that really aren't. This may be due to intentional deception or innocent ignorance. Next to the term "antique", this is the most abused of all descriptions used to sell Asian collectibles. Knowing what material an item you own or are considering buying is made from, is important for several reasons. In addition to the dramatic difference in value between genuine materials and synthetics, it is important to know whether you are buying from a reputable dealer or one that misrepresents their products and sells you items made from plastic and resin, or even worse, someone that deals in illegal elephant ivory and supports the poaching of elephants that continues today around the world.

How to distinguish ivory from bone?

1. Looking for ivory's signature texture and colour. Hold the piece in your hand and feel its weight. Ivory feels heavy and dense when you hold it in your hand. Think of the weight of a billiard ball, which ivory has been used to make in the past, when you hold one in your hand, it feels sturdy and solid. If the item in question feels strangely lightweight, you can eliminate the possibility that it's ivory. Bone can have the exact same weight as ivory, so just because the piece feels solid and heavy doesn't mean it is indeed ivory. If you're unsure whether the item feels appropriately solid, weigh it, then compare its weight to similar items that you know to be ivory. The internet is a great resource for finding the dimensions and weight of ivory items.

Run your fingers over the item to feel its texture. Ivory is said to be as smooth as butter. It's not as soft, but in the right hands, it's almost as easy to carve. If the surface of the piece feels rutted and pockmarked, it might not be ivory. If it feels unbelievably smooth, you may have ivory on your hands.

Examine the item's patina and surface through a magnifying glass. It's not always possible to tell for sure whether an item is ivory by looking under a magnifying glass, but doing so should provide good clues. Real ivory is lustrous and beautiful, often with a slightly yellowish hue. It can also take on a brownish patina caused by the oils of those who have handled it over the years. If you see spots or other odd markings, though, it probably isn't ivory. Look for the following identifiers:

*Cross-hatched lines. There should be parallel lines (with slight irregularities) running along the length of the item. Perpendicular to these should be circular or V-shaped lines. These are found in all elephant and mammoth ivory.

*Does the surface have multiple darkened dots or pits? If so, this is a very good indicator of its being bone. In some cases the bone has been bleached, though, so keep performing other tests to be sure.

*All bone has the tell tale flecks of marrow, or tiny notches, in the surface. These may not be visible to the naked eye, but you should be able to see them through a magnifying glass. Ivory tends to be smoother, harder, and not pitted.

2. Doing the hot pin test. Heat a straight pin. Hold it over a candle flame or a lighter flame for a few seconds until it gets quite hot. You can use any piece of metal, but a pin is a good choice since you don't want to create a mark on the item you're testing. Hold the pin to the surface of the item. Choose a discreet spot so you don't end up leaving a mark or a dent (although if the item is ivory, this won't happen). Smell the place where you touched the item with the hot pin. If the item is ivory, it should have no scent that wasn't there before. If it's bone, it will smell faintly of burning hair. True ivory will not get damaged by this experiment, since it is hard and strong enough to resist the heat. However, if the object you're testing happens to be made of plastic, the hot needle will make a slight dent. Since some plastics have as much or more value than ivory, you may not want to try the hot needle test until you know for sure that what you have is not plastic.

3. Getting the item tested by a professional. Antiques dealers have handled hundreds or thousands of ivory, bone, and plastic pieces, and they're usually quite adept at figuring out which is which using the methods outlined above as well as their own knowledge about the ivory trade. Be sure to find a reputable dealer to appraise the item. Don't go into just any antique store; find a place that specializes in ivory so you can be sure the information you get is correct. Antiques shows are a good place to get items appraised. Check online to find out whether a show will be coming to your area.

To leave absolutely no question about the composition of your ivory or bone item, take it to a forensics lab and have it chemically tested by a scientist. The cellular structure of ivory is different from that of bone, but lab equipment is required to determine which is which with finality.

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Enamel Bowls

Pictures below are the five enamel bowls bought from a Peranakan's family. These bowls were used as daily utensils in the kitchen.

Diameter : 10.5cm, Height : 5cm.

Enamel Bowl 1.

Enamel Bowl 1.

Enamel Bowl 1.

Enamel Bowl 2.

Enamel Bowl 2.

Enamel Bowl 2.

Enamel Bowl 3.

Enamel Bowl 3.

Enamel Bowl 3.

Enamel Bowl 4.

Enamel Bowl 4.

Enamel Bowl 4.

Enamel Bowl 5.

Enamel Bowl 5.

Enamel Bowl 5.