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042802-01
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Oriental 1700s Vegetable Fiber Lunch Box
This lunch box or picnic outfit is of museum quality as you will later see. The piece stands 6 inches tall and 8 inches in diameter. It holds 2 removable bowls or compartments, one deeper than the other. This piece was brought from India or Burma in the late 1700's by a missionary relative of the people who owned it. In this extraordinary package, one not only receives the lunch box, but also 7 very valuable letters dating between 1944 and 1948 from the City Art Museum of St. Louis, where this piece was sent for valuation and confirmation of it's authenticity. In these letters, the Curator goes into great detail of this lunch box/picnic set. It is made of vegetable fibers and then heavily laquered. Together, this set forms a lunch box or picnic outfit such as is used in the Orient for containing meals to be eaten away from home. The pieces nest into each other in such a way that there is a large space left at the bottom, a middle size space in the center and a shallow tray at the top. The lower part is for rice which is the staple food in the east; the middle is for stew of meat or fish, like a chop suey or curry; the top is for condiments and sweetmeats which may be used as a dessert of eaten with the rest of the meal. It is made of basket work (vegetable fibers) woven together and coated. Red and black were the most common colors. The designs were not researched by the curator at that time because to do so would be extensive and time consuming. They are extremely intricate figures; the top appears to be a temple of some sort and the bottom has 3 figures in a boat, paddling among the fish. The damage seen to this piece is unfortunate, however, as noted in the letters from the Museum, it is still in wonderful museum-quality condition. I could go on and on, but reading the letters from the curator are a treat you'll want to read for yourself.
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