Found across S.E Asia, betel nuts were harvested from the Areca palm and were chewed for their stimulating properties. The local Dutch realised how important betel nuts were to the indigenous people and how it was an essential part of hospitality. So the Dutch quickly incorporated betel use with their dealings with local elites, and commissioned refined boxes to hold the betel nuts. Paintings showed the wives of Dutchmen with betel boxes clearly displayed eg C17th painting in the Rijksmuseum by JJ Coeman showed Cornelia van Nieuwenroode, husband Pieter Cnoll and daughters in Batavia/later Jakarta, one holding a jewelled betel box.
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Betel box, 1700
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The box had four spherical feet and an elegant twist handle on each side. The lid was supported by an internal silver chain on each side of the box while the base of the box was of hammered sheet silver. The original lock and key were still in place.
The second betel box was used by both the aristocratic Javanese and senior Dutch colonial administrators and their wives during the C18th. It did not have internal dividers that were commonly found in betel boxes of the type of that era, so perhaps it also functioned as a jewellery box.
The fashion for elegant betel objects saw the Batavian governor-general Jacob Mossel issue a decree in 1754 stating that only the wives and widows of the governor-general, director-general, members of the Council of the Indies and the Justice Council president were permitted to use gold or silver betel boxes adorned with precious stones. Classy!! One box came from the royal estate of Dutch Queen Juliana and presumably was presented to the Dutch royal family when the Dutch East VOC ruled Batavia. There were no maker’s marks but there were Dutch import marks to the lid and base.
The filigree work on this box suggests that it came from an artisan who came from the Padang area on Sumatra’s west coast. Such filigree work was known in Batavia at the time as Westcust werk. Note the floral silver rivet heads used on the front of this box.
Many thanks to Parnassus for his Chinese examples of filigree.
Pieter Cnoll, Cornelia van Nijenrode, their daughters and Servants,
by Jacob Coeman, 1665
132cm × 191cm
Items of silver were produced in Batavia for the Dutch East India Company/VOC and there was a history of silver filigree production in the area. William Marsden in 1784 History of Sumatra included an extensive description of gold and silver filigree work carried out in Sumatra, observing that: “there being no manufacture in that part of the world, or elsewhere, that has been more admired and celebrated than the fine gold and silver filigree of Sumatra. This indeed is the work of the Malayan inhabitants. The local Chinese also make silver filigree which looks elegant, but wants likewise the extraordinary delicacy of the Malayan work.”
Sumatra was an important market for Indian-made textiles imported by the VOC. Pepper and gold were two of the goods that the VOC received in payment, as was filigree work, all of which would have been shipped on via Batavia.
Sumatra was an important market for Indian-made textiles imported by the VOC. Pepper and gold were two of the goods that the VOC received in payment, as was filigree work, all of which would have been shipped on via Batavia.
Internal compartments
Photo credit: Michael Backman
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Betel box lid, feet and key hole, 1700
Photo credit: Michael Backman
The Michael Backman of London auction catalogue suggested the first betel box was probably made in India. Usually filigree items were credited to Goa in India, for the European market, especially when C17th India items featured zig-zag filigreed borders. But it was possible that silver filigree of this type was originally made in the Dutch East Indies and traded there by the VOC.
The VOC’s main role was to bring spices from Asia to Europe. Soon the VOC also established a series of intra-Asia trade networks so that items could be purchased in one part of Asia then sold in another for profit. There were 1,059 ships employed by the VOC which routinely took part in trade within Asia in the C17th. Other intra-Asia trade included luxury goods, textiles, timber and Chinese porcelain.
The very large (22cm long, 16cm wide, 10cm high), heavy (1,675g) silver filigree lidded box (c1700) was originally intended to serve as a betel box, for use perhaps by a senior Dutch colonial official. It came from a private collection in London. The sides and hinged cover were of silver filigree, a combination of broader, flatter wires and thinner, twisted wires. The base was of sheet silver, as were the internal dividing inserts.
The original silver lock remained, as did the original internal silver chains that connected the lid to the base when it was opened. The key hole was covered with an engraved escutcheon in the form of a crowned double-headed eagle, a symbol associated with the royal house of Mysore in India and also with the Russian royal family. In fact a lot of the silver filigree produced in Asia founds its way to Russia via the trading activities of the Dutch East India Co.
Note the solid cast silver handles on both sides. And the four elaborate spherical feet composed of lappet panels-decorative folds of silver filigree. The original silver sheet dividing the compartments were still inside; usually they were long gone, having been melted down over the eons. This box, heavier and larger than other examples, was a museum-quality piece.
The Michael Backman of London auction catalogue suggested the first betel box was probably made in India. Usually filigree items were credited to Goa in India, for the European market, especially when C17th India items featured zig-zag filigreed borders. But it was possible that silver filigree of this type was originally made in the Dutch East Indies and traded there by the VOC.
The VOC’s main role was to bring spices from Asia to Europe. Soon the VOC also established a series of intra-Asia trade networks so that items could be purchased in one part of Asia then sold in another for profit. There were 1,059 ships employed by the VOC which routinely took part in trade within Asia in the C17th. Other intra-Asia trade included luxury goods, textiles, timber and Chinese porcelain.
The very large (22cm long, 16cm wide, 10cm high), heavy (1,675g) silver filigree lidded box (c1700) was originally intended to serve as a betel box, for use perhaps by a senior Dutch colonial official. It came from a private collection in London. The sides and hinged cover were of silver filigree, a combination of broader, flatter wires and thinner, twisted wires. The base was of sheet silver, as were the internal dividing inserts.
The original silver lock remained, as did the original internal silver chains that connected the lid to the base when it was opened. The key hole was covered with an engraved escutcheon in the form of a crowned double-headed eagle, a symbol associated with the royal house of Mysore in India and also with the Russian royal family. In fact a lot of the silver filigree produced in Asia founds its way to Russia via the trading activities of the Dutch East India Co.
Note the solid cast silver handles on both sides. And the four elaborate spherical feet composed of lappet panels-decorative folds of silver filigree. The original silver sheet dividing the compartments were still inside; usually they were long gone, having been melted down over the eons. This box, heavier and larger than other examples, was a museum-quality piece.
detail of the filigree work
betel box c1760
Photo credit: Michael Backman
This second amazing silver box from Dutch colonial Batavia-Jakarta had panels of fine, dense silver filigree within borders of flat silver ribs and fine silver beads. At the centre of the hinged lid, see the flower or star which appeared to be based on the star anise, a spice used widely in cooking: Indonesian, Malaysian & Chinese. The rest of the filigree comprised tight curls, inside very fine filigree silver work
The box had four spherical feet and an elegant twist handle on each side. The lid was supported by an internal silver chain on each side of the box while the base of the box was of hammered sheet silver. The original lock and key were still in place.
The second betel box was used by both the aristocratic Javanese and senior Dutch colonial administrators and their wives during the C18th. It did not have internal dividers that were commonly found in betel boxes of the type of that era, so perhaps it also functioned as a jewellery box.
The fashion for elegant betel objects saw the Batavian governor-general Jacob Mossel issue a decree in 1754 stating that only the wives and widows of the governor-general, director-general, members of the Council of the Indies and the Justice Council president were permitted to use gold or silver betel boxes adorned with precious stones. Classy!! One box came from the royal estate of Dutch Queen Juliana and presumably was presented to the Dutch royal family when the Dutch East VOC ruled Batavia. There were no maker’s marks but there were Dutch import marks to the lid and base.
The filigree work on this box suggests that it came from an artisan who came from the Padang area on Sumatra’s west coast. Such filigree work was known in Batavia at the time as Westcust werk. Note the floral silver rivet heads used on the front of this box.
Many thanks to Parnassus for his Chinese examples of filigree.