Indian Wood Tikka Box

Smooth, glossy and almost black, this one has the tidiest dome lid of the lot.

This carved and painted tikka box is from Maharashtra, India, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is carved wood & pigment. Wood carving has a long history in western India, and craftsmen there decorate small boxes with geometric patterns, flowers and figures, sometimes adding colour with pigment. Dark jar with a smooth, tall domed lid and a pointed knob. The body is a plain, straight cylinder with a clean seam where the lid meets it. The finish is deep black-brown and glossy with only small scuffs. It is 3.75 inches high and 2.5 in diameter.

Sleek, dark and a bit smug.