Box

The donor bought the box from a family in Victoria in the 1970s. The family said an ancestor of theirs had bought the piece from a ship that came to port there c. 1797. (NB. Perhaps is was 1897, since Victoria didn't exist until the mid 19th C?)

Two piece box covered with a carved design. The inside of both sides has a carved-out area in the shape of small, flat eye glasses. The outer surface of both sides is intricately carved in a pattern of swirling lines and precise squares with small points. Part a, the top, has the face of an animal at either end, with a ridged forehead, large round eyes, a protruding nose, and a wide, open mouth with tongue extending down to chest. The interior is smooth and undecorated. The outer surface of the carved top shows an ochre coloured pigment in parts of the decoration as well as one area that has a bit of white in the design.