Quran Box Naqshi design with stand

About this piece

Quran Box Naqshi design with stand — A lidded box lined in red, for the Quran. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and coloured lac and brass and finished in naqshi lac, the pattern scratched back through the colour, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. 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 flat lidded box made to hold a Quran, finished outside in red and gold lac and lined inside in red cloth, with a brass-toned catch at the front and a stand. The lining is the part that matters and the part most boxes skip. Bare wood inside a box abrades a binding every time the book is lifted in or out, and over years that wears the spine and the edges of the boards. Cloth laid over the base and up the sides removes that entirely. The outside is worked in the naqshi manner — lac laid on and the pattern cut back through the colour by hand with the sathrī, the iron tool that opens the furrow — with the red and gold kept formal rather than floral, which is the convention for a piece that holds scripture. It keeps the book clean, closed and off a shelf edge, and the stand lets it be read from without being held open by hand. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and worked individually, so no two lids carry the same pattern. Dust with a soft dry cloth, keep water and polish sprays off the lac, and keep it out of direct sunlight. A name, a date or a dedication can be worked into the lid on request, which is what makes it a common Ameen, nikkah and Ramadan gift.

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.