This oval silver box has cut corners and a domed lid that hinges open with more resistance than its size suggests, as if it takes its job seriously. The cover is hand engraved with a scrolling floral pattern rooted in Indian folk art traditions, the sort of motif passed down through a silversmith's family rather than invented fresh for a single commission.
Boxes like this one belong to the long tradition of Indian silverwork produced during the British Raj, when local craftsmen adapted their own decorative vocabulary to small Western forms — snuff boxes, pill boxes, card cases — meant for both domestic use and export. The ornament stayed distinctly Indian even as the shape bent toward European taste, which is part of what makes these pieces worth a second look rather than a passing glance. Whatever you keep in it now almost certainly wasn't what the original owner had in mind, and that's half the fun.
The piece has been XRF tested and confirmed as 900 silver.
Condition notes
Good antique condition. Soldering to hinges; deep surface groove at the back; tiny ding to the front of the lid.
