Work Box with Porcupine Quills

Work box decorated with porcupine quills, from Vizagapatam, India, c. 1855 Work box decorated with porcupine quills, from Vizagapatam, India, c. 1855 Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum, acc. no. 01096:1 to 9/2/(IS).

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a sandalwood box that is decorated with porcupine quills. The box dates to about AD 1855 and was made in Vizagapatam, along the east coast of India. It also includes pieces of buffalo horn and ivory. The box is 23.5 cm high, 33.5 cm wide, and 24 cm deep. The box was apparently made for a Western market, and in particular for the Exposition Universelle in Paris, in 1855.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 19 December 2016).

WV

Last modified on Tuesday, 20 December 2016 19:53