19th Century Anglo-Indian Sadeli Mosaic Jewelry Box with Lidded Compartments

19th century Anglo-Indian wooden box fitted with various compartments finely hand carved. The top is finely hand carved with the Taj Mahal. The interior with removable hand carved nine-lidded compartments, the front cover has a mirror, the whole exhibiting very fine workmanship. This fine late Victorian Anglo-Indian box from India is in great condition for it age. A beautiful example of an Anglo-Indian fine art...

1950s Anglo Indian Micro Sadeli Mosaic Inlaid Jewelry Box. DIMENSIONS: 7ʺW × 7ʺD × 2.5ʺH. Indo Persian Moorish style micro mosaic inlaid jewelry box with lid. Intricate inlaid Anglo ...

Antique 19th century Anglo-Indian jewelry, trinket footed box, inlay with ebony, mosaic marquetry Sadeli work and a carved Hindu scene on top. The box case is made from sandalwood wi...

Anglo Indian Moorish style micro mosaic inlaid jewelry box with lid. Intricate inlaid Anglo Indian box with floral and geometric Moorish Sadeli design in an octagonal shape form with micro mosaic marquetry, very fine artwork. Museum collector piece like the one in Doris Duke Islamic Art Museum. The repeating geometric patterns of Sadeli Mosaic...

19th century Anglo-Indian Mughal wood box, inlaid and hand carved with the Taj Mahal and some flowers all around. Jewelry box, Anglo-Raj box from India in great condition. Nice Mughal Bombay Box...

1950's Anglo Indian, Indo Persian style micro mosaic inlaid jewelry box with lid. Large vintage intricate inlaid middle Eastern Persian style box with floral and geometric Islamic Mo...

PRESENTING a LOVELY 19C Anglo Indian Bombay MOP (Mother of Pearl) Sadeli Mosaic Trinket Box from circa 1875-85. Gorgeously detailed and hand-crafted ‘sadeli mosaic’ inlay, from the Bombay Area, with deep greens with silver, pewter, mother of pearl, bone and ebony in geometric patterns. The box case, is made of sandalwood but completely covered in MOP, bone, faux ivory, ebony and mosaic inlay. Edged with faux ivory and banded with a different pattern of sadeli mosaic. Some minor damage to the top (repair is obvious in pics) and ivorine replacements to some edging, but it still a BEAUTIFUL BOX and of real QUALITY! The mosaic work is FABULOUS! Box opens to reveal its original blue velvet lining. It sits on 4 (recently added) silvered button feet. SADELI MOSAIC: “Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials. Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra color. The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched. The makers (reputed to be Persian) of Sadeli mosaic made in the first two decades of the 19th century displayed a total understanding of the qualities of the different materials they used. They combined substances, which can expand and contract according to atmospheric conditions with others, which are hard and unyielding. The result was a sharp definition of the lines and patterns, which made up the whole design. On the early boxes the designs look deceptively simple. The fact is, they emerged from a culture, which had mastered geometry and understood how to generate a pattern from a set number of points. The patterns are so harmoniously combined that their incredible complexity is not immediately apparent. The earliest Sadeli boxes...

PRESENTING A LOVELY 19th century Anglo-Indian Carved Padouk Wood and Sadeli Mosaic Box, featuring a carving of a Hunt Scene. Made circa 1870 in Bombay, India during the Rule of th...

Presenting a superb 19C Anglo Indian Sadeli Mosaic greeting card case. Made in or around Bombay, India circa 1880. This is a greeting card case used for holding your greeting cards or business cards of the day ! The body of the case is made from sandalwood and it is fully overlaid with bone and highly intricate Sadeli Mosaic made up of thousands of micro mosaic pieces of bone, ebony, silver/pewter and semi precious stone. The workmanship is stupenduous !!!! This case is almost museum quality. One or two very, very minor losses of mosaic mainly where the top meets the body but otherwise near mint ! SADELI MOSAIC: “Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials. Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra color. The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched. The makers (reputed to be Persian) of Sadeli mosaic made in the first two decades of the 19th century displayed a total understanding of the qualities of the different materials they used. They combined substances, which can expand and contract according to atmospheric conditions with others, which are hard and unyielding. The result was a sharp definition of the lines and patterns, which made up the whole design. On the early boxes the designs look deceptively simple. The fact is, they emerged from a culture, which had mastered geometry and understood how to generate a pattern from a set number of points. The patterns are so harmoniously combined that their incredible complexity is not immediately apparent. The earliest Sadeli boxes...

A stunning camel bone, ebony and metal inlaid sadeli work box with portable writing desk, Bombay, circa 1850. The sandalwood body of faceted rec...

PRESENTING A LOVELY 19C Anglo Indian Highly Carved Padouk Wood with Sadeli Mosaic Inlay Sewing Box. Made in Bombay, India, circa 1880. The box is made of sandalwood with highly carved raised padouk wood panels on all sides, depicting temple scenes, animals and foliage. The box is in a sarcophagus form. It is edged in bone (and we can tell it is bone and not ivory, from the color and evidence of capillaries, which are not found in ivory), and banded with Bombay Sadeli mosaic and ebony veneer. The lid opens to reveal a removable tray with various open compartments and lidded compartments. 5 lidded compartments, 1 unlidded compartment and 8 holders for thimbles, etc The tray lifts to reveal a blue velvet (original) lined section, for storing jewelry etc, with sections for collars etc. The inside of the lid has a removable mirror (the mirror is missing on this one but can easily be replaced). Behind the mirror is the original green velvet lining. It has its original brass carry handles on the sides and sits on 4 silvered button feet (of recent origin). Some repairs to the exterior and condition issues (priced accordingly), but still a LOVELY COLLECTIBLE box! These boxes were made by superb Indian craftsmen, specifically for sale to the ruling British elite. These types of boxes, carved padouk and sandalwood, (whilst beautiful and superbly crafted) were of a lesser quality, than the more profusely and intricately mosaic inlay, tortoiseshell and ivory boxes, made for the British ‘Upper Classes’ in the areas of Bombay and Vizagapatam. These type of boxes were much more affordable back in 1880 (and indeed today) and would probably have been bought by mid-level diplomats, civil servants or visitors. Sewing boxes (in general), were in EVERY Victorian home in Britain in the 19th century and like other boxes etc were ‘status symbols’ of your place in society! The more ornate the box, the more ‘Upper Class’ you were! SADELI MOSAIC: “Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials. Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and Horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra color. The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, Horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched. The makers (reputed to be Persian) of Sadeli mosaic made in the first two decades of the 19th century displayed a total understanding of the qualities of the different materials they used. They combined substances, which can expand and contract according to atmospheric conditions with others, which are hard and unyielding. The result was a sharp definition of the lines and patterns, which made up the whole design. On the early boxes the designs look deceptively simple. The fact is, they emerged from a culture, which had mastered geometry and understood how to generate a pattern from a set number of points. The patterns are so harmoniously combined that their incredible complexity is not immediately apparent. The earliest Sadeli boxes...

Exquisitely crafted early 20th century Anglo Indian micro mosaic Sadeli box with gorgeous antique Persian geometric pattern. The finely detailed box featu...