A beautiful antique Betel leaf shaped pandan box. The Betal leaf also resembling a heart. Deccan or Mughal, brass over white metal with a wonderful repousse design. These early pandans had no compartments inside so would have been used for serving ready rolled paan. The design on the top likely reflecting rolled betal leaves & the nut with a beautifully detailed background.
Requires a light pull to place lid on base. Measures 6 1/4" x 5.5" x 2.5."
"A similar shaped pandan can be found in Christie's and in Mark Zebrowski's "Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India". He describes the pandan and its uses on pages 262-279. The history of chewing paan dates back about 2,500 years and its beautifully crafted accessories elevated it to a level of ceremony, much like the Japanese and tea. The word pandan was coined during the Sultanate and Mughal period joining the Hindi word paan to the Persian suffix dan. “The offering of the royal paan to a courtier was a sign of extraordinary favour, and an even greater honour would be the offering of the betel container (pandan).
