Gambir pot

Title
Gambir pot
Year/Period
c.1910
Region
Bukit Tinggi, western Sumatra
Dimension
Object size: H5.4 x Dia7.2 x Cir23.0 cm
Accession No.
XXXX-03083

This gambir pot is decorated with floral motif using the niello technique in which decorative patterns on an object are contrasted against a dark enamel background.Various types of betel or sireh set and receptacles were created in the Malay and Indonesian Archipelago to hold the ingredients of the betel chew. A set generally comprises a receptacle for holding betel leaves, pots for areca, gambier and lime and a nut cutter. A betel quid consists of a betel leaf smeared with lime, thin shavings of areca nut, gambier as well as other ingredient such as cloves.