Featured Ivory inlaid box, Spanish? Indian? Date?

Hi Guys, sorry it's been a while I would love your thoughts on this box, it's 8x8x5 inches high. It has ivory inlay and some age but when or where it was made I am at a loss....please help

 

I love the wavy top.

 

Yes the wavy/scalloped top is one of the reasons for buying it, I did think it was early Hoshiarpur inlay from the photos but now I'm sure it's not

 

Not Spanish. I'd think Indian but others sure to know better than I.

Debora

 

I didn't think Spanish but after seeing this box and it's similarity, ie lock, inlay, and hinges I'm not so sure. They put the date on this box at 1910's ? To me it looks much earlier https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/506266943/spanish-inlaid-bargueno-bone-inlay

 

Looks earlier to me too. By way, yours is unlikely to be ivory; those inlays are usually bone.

Debora

 

I know now everyone calls it bone due to ebays rules on ivory but most of these boxes used ivory, only poor quality pre-1940's and post 1947 Indian inlays are done in bone or plastic

 

Interesting. But you think your box isn't post-1947?

Debora

 

The grain of the ivory is pretty clear here.
.

 

Thank you for the close-up.

Debora

 

Personally I don't think it's post 1850 but I'm not sure, it's certainly ivory though

 

Love it!
Just thinking about Indian and Spanish, did any of the Portuguese colonies in India make this kind of inlay? They could have continued using those locks after the Portuguese left.

Here is a map of Portuguese India for you to check, closest to Hoshiarpur would be Surat in the northwest (which was also Dutch), but that is still a long way from Hoshiarpur:

 

I don't think mine is anywhere near as good as these examples but the theme of the inlay is very common for Indo-Portuguese, birds in potted trees seems like it was all the rage back then, I don't know when then was but I suspect around 1800. I did buy it thinking it was early Hoshiarpur but now I'm sure it's not, it has a Spanish lock but it could well be a early Indian clasp lock, this example has the exact same lock as mine and they are saying Spanish https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/506266943/spanish-inlaid-bargueno-bone-inlay This is another Spanish box with the same lock https://de-cor.com/products/spanish-inlaid-marquetry-bargueno utm_campaign=Pinterest%20Buy%20Button&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Pinterest&utm_content=pinterest-buy-button-09a827ed5-6fa8-4a3d-b2d0-eccdb1f2e77d
https://www.christies.com/lotfinder...-casket-gujarat-or-sindh-5422073-details.aspx
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions...d-hodgkin-portrait-artist-l17120/lot.245.html
http://www.thecobbs.com/auction-2015-07-03-lot-129.html
The truth is I don't know yet another mystery to add to my collection lol

 

Those Gujarati indo-Portuguese boxes would probably be from Surat, which is in Gujarat.

Some items are destined to keep us searching and wondering.

 

I think I might have made some small headway finding out where and when this box was made, if I put "spanish colonial antique box 18thc" into google I find a lot of boxes with the same sort of lock. What I need to find is someone who knows about Spanish colonial antiques, I don't suppose you know anybody on here do you?

 

although the bird and ivy arrangement look typically Persian , I wouldn't exclude Southern Italy and Sicily; under Norman rule the Islam wasn't that strict as in Northern Africa and the East and allowed plants and animals.

 

Clever thinking, The Philippines (former Spanish colony) also have inlay work. I think it is mostly made in the Muslim south.


http://www.zenakruzick.com/designer...ry-bone_inlay_box_philippines-2089details.htm

We have two people who are married to Filipino ladies, @Firemandk and @Gianluca72 . I hope they can tell you more, or know who to ask.

 

Love the look of that unusual box (posted so many moons ago) Also looks like a nice inlaid chest the box is standing on.

 

Yes the un geometric style (birds ect) has lead me to believe in the past that it's not Islamic. I do have many boxes from India both Islamic and other and none have that type of lock. I really can't find any european or asian countries other than Spain that has that distinctive lock but looking at spanish colonial in the 18th c from South America I see many. I have many antiques ranging from Roman to the 1920's and this box feels 200+ years old. I will admit this box and 2 other antiques I've bought still I'm not sure about. Really I was hoping for an expert on spanish colonial antiques in the US or South America who could confirm or rule it out.

 

I have just searched the Philippines for spanish colonial boxes and I didn't really get any that had that type of lock, I can find indo portuguese with the same type of inlay but the lock is the most distinctive factor in my opinion. The annoying thing is the chests ( https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/506266943/spanish-inlaid-barguenobone-inlayinlaid ) I've linked to are almost certainly from the same place and date but none of them say where and when they were made