Thai Ornately Decorated Storage Box, with Elephant Motif

Gilded dancers and leafy plants trot around the sides of a small chest.

This ornately decorated storage box with elephant motif is from Thailand, and dates to the 20th century. It is painted jewel-studded lacquerware. The elephant has long been an important animal in Thai culture, linked with royalty, strength and good fortune, and appears widely in art and crafts. Rectangular box with a gold-toned surface worked in raised figures among flowering plants. A band of arches with tiny red and green accents runs around the top edge. The lid shows a pale panel with more figures, and a small keyhole sits on the front. It is 11 inches wide, 11 deep and 6.5 high.

Everyone appears to be having a very good time in there.