betel-box
- Museum number
- 1998,0723.78
- Description
-
Flat betel-box ('kun it') made of woven and coiled split bamboo with one internal tray. It is decorated internally in good cinnabar red lacquer, and externally, in the 'yun' technique with pink, green, yellow and black lacquer. The external decoration is dominated by a fine 'kunan kanbyat' pattern ('Yunnan semicircles') in yellow, with 'pan-bwa'. On the top surface are the eight symbols of the days of the week, 'gyo shit myo', in 'yun', while around the sides are the twelve signs of the zodiac, 'yathi-yok' (there are actually, thirteen of them), also in 'yun'. The base is a plain black - perhaps more recent than the main lacquer decoration. The base of the internal tray is decorated with green and yellow concentric rings, with floral scrolls.
- Production date
- 1900-1950 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 21 centimetres
-
Height: 11.60 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Isaacs and Blurton 2000:
As usual on cylindrical betel-boxes, the zodiac signs for the twelve months of the year appear around the sides of the box, while the eight planets or days of the Burmese week, 'gyo shit myo', are arranged radially on the circular lid within the frames of the 'kunan kanbyat' pattern. The figures are integrated with the background and neither fully detached nor deliberately submerged. An unusual colour combination of yellow, pink and green with very little black has been chosen for this box.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2000 Apr - 2000 Aug, BM, 'Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer.'
2002 Apr - 2002 Jul, Bath, East Asian Art Museum, 'Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer.'
- Condition
- One or two small chips but basically very sound.
- Acquisition date
- 1998
- Acquisition notes
- Given to Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs by Daw Tin Tin Myint, of Mandalay, in March 1991.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1998,0723.78
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Isaacs 78
