Posted 7 years ago
OldBoxAddict
(4 items)
My third find from my local charity shop :)
Sorry for posting again, my photographs came out sideways for some reason.
Apparently mid 20th century (1960's). Inlaid with mother-of-pearl and fruitwoods. Decorated with Moorish motif designs. Handmade by Syrian artisans in Damascus.
These are the details i was able to find in my searches...so please correct me if i'm wrong about anything.
I've also seen some information on the Anglo Indian boxes that are very similar..but from what i can tell, the octagon shaped boxes seem to be from Syrian artisans, and the square boxes are from the Anglo Indian artisans. Again, correct me if i'm wrong...just adding all the info i can find from my searches :)
It has red velvet inside, with a lid that lifts only as far as the felt will reach, so it kind of tilts forward a little.
A lovely box, and finding information on this one was quite easy compared to my other boxes :)
These are still made/ sold today in souks throughout the middle east. One of the most popular souvenir items.
The shape on yours is nice!
scott
Great to hear they are still being made! They are very pretty. So there's hope for me yet for finding more of these for my collection ;)
I would think you could find a lot of these online.
They aren't expensive items, so you could assemble a good many with minimal investment.
scott
Just did a quick check on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2057872.m570.l1312.R1.TR11.TRC2.A0.H0.Xsyrian.TRS1&_nkw=syrian+wood+box&_sacat=0
When I was in Saudi Arabia, I think these were about $10- $15 for square cigar box size.
scott
That's good to know :)
But I like helping out my local charity shops, so I wait until something shows up in them and then I purchase it. That way I'm doing my bit for charity, I get the element of surprise when I stumble upon a new box, and I have a lovey trip out each week with family :)
But thanks again for the eBay link and all the info. Very helpful, and that's one more box I can now label and add to my "Identified" list ;)
Glad to help and good luck with future acquisitions!
scott