"Now the Peke, although people may say what they please, Is no British Dog, but a Heathen Chinese."From 'The Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles' by TS Eliot
This is what immediately sprung to mind on seeing this box and it isn't far wrong - not a heathen Chinese but a rather fine piece of silversmithing by Cambodian Khmer. It is fashioned from sheets of solid beaten silver - in this case unusually large at a foot long - into a storage box for betel nut or the accoutrement needed in its chewing / preparation. Five will find their way onto the List, alongside this one, a deer, a large turtle, a bird and a smaller version of the one illustrated here. They all date from between 1920 and 1950, the height of their popularity being between the wars.
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