Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 171
A large porcupine quill inlaid ebony casket Galle District, Ceylon, circa 1840-60
22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
Looking for a similar item?
Our Islamic and Indian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Oliver White
Head of Department
A large porcupine quill inlaid ebony casket
Galle District, Ceylon, circa 1840-60
Galle District, Ceylon, circa 1840-60
of rectangular form with hinged lid, on four brass feet in the form of claws, a brass handle to either side and bone lock plate to front, decorated with bands of porcupine quills and inlaid with bone roundels, the lid with a central bone-inlaid elephant inscribed 'Ceylon'
74 x 46.5 x 33.5 cm.
74 x 46.5 x 33.5 cm.
Footnotes
References to quill decorated furniture first appear in the late nineteenth century, and production was centred in Galle District. The inner faces of the lids of boxes such as the present lot were sometimes decorated or entirely veneered with religious or historic themes. For further information on these kinds of furniture, see Amin Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p. 376. A quill decorated box with hinged lid is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IM 3-1933). For a porcupine quill box sold at Christie's South Kensington, see Christie's Interiors, 9 September 2014, lot 357.