This is a ‘sireh’ box used to contain the various tools and ingredients used in betel-chewing, a practise once common in the Peranakan Chinese community. It is made from tortoise shell, which is an unusual choice as these boxes were usually made of red lacquer or metal. It is decorated with motifs of foliage using gilded silver on the top and sides. The box also comes with a lid which is also not common in sireh boxes. Sireh sets usually consisted of the box, in which were containers to hold lime and the areca nut shavings, as well as a nut cutter and a handerchief for covering the set or ‘tempat sireh’. Besides chewing of betel nut for pleasure, the practise also served more important ceremonial roles.
