Floral Jewellery Box — 4 × 4 inch

About this piece

Floral Jewellery Box — 4 × 4 inch: A small red keepsake box with a floral lid. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and coloured lac and finished in naqshi lac, the pattern scratched back through the colour, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures 4 × 4 in. It costs PKR 650. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A four inch square keepsake box with a red lacquered lid worked in a floral pattern and a plain dark base under it. It is the least expensive piece the workshop makes and the one most people buy first, which is why it gets the same process as everything else rather than a shortcut. The box is turned and the lid lacquered on the khraad, the floral pattern is cut back through the colour by hand with the sathrī, the iron tool that opens the furrow, and the base is left dark and plain so the lid carries all the work. Nothing about it is printed or transferred. At this size it takes a ring, a pair of earrings, a tasbeeh or a set of cufflinks, and it is the box people buy ten of — for a mehndi, for Eid, for the guests at a nikkah, for a shop counter. It is also the piece to buy first if you want to see the workshop lac before committing to a table or a lamp. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and cut individually, so no two lids carry the same flowers. Dust with a soft dry cloth, keep water and polish sprays off the lac, and keep it out of direct sunlight. A name or a date can be worked into the lid on request, which is what turns a box this size into a wedding favour.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.