This silver-openwork box is decorated with floral designs interspersed with birds and gilded borders. The handle terminates in 2 dragon-heads. Openwork and floral decorations are hallmarks of Deccani metalware, produced in the central plateau region of southern India.

Boxes like this contained pan, a delicacy composed of crushed betel nuts, spices, and lime wrapped in a betel leaf. Offering and eating pan was, and remains, an important social ritual widespread throughout India.

Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Rajinder K. and Narinder K. Keith in honor of their father, Sardar Gurdit Singh Keith.