betel-box
- Museum number
- 1998,0723.4
- Description
-
Betel box, 'kun it', made of woven split bamboo, lacquered, and decorated in the 'yun' technique. The bright red colour derives from cinnabar (mercuric sulphide) powder mixed with raw lacquer sap. The vessel is not, however, in a single colour: minute dotting with yellow orpiment (arsenic trisulphide), scarcely visible to the eye, has the effect of heightening the shade to a brilliant vermilion.
The sides of the deep cover are left free for the pattern, the 'kunan kanbyat' or 'Yunnan semicircle'. The pattern has many variants but is seen here in its classic form, drawn free-hand with a very fine needle-point, the 'tont-yun' tool that gives its name to this delicate work.
In a roundel on top of the cover is a tiger, the 'trademark' of the maker, Hsaya Htat. His name appears on the centre of the base of the box. There are two internal trays.
- Production date
- 1925-1950
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 27 centimetres
-
Height: 25.80 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Isaacs and Blurton 2000:
Cylindrical betel-boxes of this colour and pattern have been popular for hundreds of years. This box, a fine example of the type, was made by Hsaya Htat of Pagan (see BM 1998.0723.119 for a further example of his work). His name appears on the centre of the base of the box together with his 'trade mark', a tiger, in a roundel on the top of the cover.
The pattern, the 'kunan kanbyat', or Yunnan semicircle', is still in use in the lacquer workshops of Pagan. The use of Yunnan in the name may indicate the origin of this design, though this hypothesis is unproven. See also BM 1998.0723.78 and BM 1998.0723.228.
The deep box holds the betel-vine leaves, the lower of the two internal trays tobacco leaf and the upper tray the spices and lime to make up the chewing quid with the sliced areca nut.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2000 Apr - 2000 Aug, BM, 'Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer.'
2001 Dec- 2002 Feb, Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 'Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer'
- Acquisition date
- 1998
- Acquisition notes
- Acquired by the donors from Daw Nu Nu Tin on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yangon in November 1989 for 500 kyats.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1998,0723.4
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Isaacs 4
