Patterned Jewellery Box

About this piece

Patterned Jewellery Box — A lidded jewellery box, four sizes. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and given a contrast polish, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures 4 × 4 to 9 × 6 in. It costs PKR 3,500. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A jewellery box in dark sheesham with a pale banded pattern worked across the lid and down the sides, and a small catch at the front. Four sizes, from a four inch square keepsake box up to a nine by six that holds a full set. The pattern comes from the wood itself, not from paint. Sheesham runs from pale sapwood at the outside of the log to deep red-brown heartwood at the centre, and a contrast polish works with that: the piece is cut and finished so the light and dark bands fall where the pattern wants them, then polished to push the difference further. Nothing is stained on. It means every box is banded differently, because no two boards come off a log the same, and it means the pattern cannot fade or lift the way a surface finish can. The larger sizes take a full set — necklace, bangles, earrings — and the smallest is a single-piece keepsake box. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha. Dust with a soft dry cloth; keep water, polish sprays and chemical cleaners off it, and keep it out of direct sunlight and standing heat so the wood does not dry. A name or a date can be engraved on the lid or inside it.

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.