Because the hive knows all, can you identify this antique box for me?

We stopped at a roadside antique sale in Packwood Washington after autocrosser last weekend and bought this handmade Asian looking box because it was really unique. I can't even figure out what it's supposed to hold it where it came from. Searching has been no help. 

The lid is 9.5" x 5.5" and the base is 10.5" x 7" and it's 9" tall. The rear is flat and the slope is in the front face and sides. All of the hardware appears to be handmade. The box itself is wood and the inside is stained. The art is Asian in general appearance but has a couple of odd choices, the lid is a conch shell and there's flaming billiard bad next to the tigers.

Just guessing but the artwork makes it look like it belonged to a tattoo artist.

Based on nothing more than years and years of watching the Antiques Roadshow, I'd call it Chinese inspired folk art.  And, I guess, pretty cool.

So far we've figured out it's Buddhist art, specifically Tibetan. The flaming billiard balls are actually a symbol of good luck and the paired symbols over the tigers are the king's earrings and the queen's earrings. The conch shell is what got us there.

It's carved, too, not just painted.

It's a Tibetan destiny box.  By acquiring the box, you enter into an agreement that when one of you die, the remaining partner has the dead spouse cremated, the ashes are placed in the box, and the box is placed as high up K2 as the remaining partner can manage.

Thats all bullE36 M3, but it makes a good story.

"What's in the box!?!!?!?!!!"

Willie's Weed Box from before he became a famous tax evader...

ShawnG said:

"What's in the box!?!!?!?!!!"

It certainly has the look of a small Tibetan chest from the early 19th century.

Whether it actually is that old is difficult to tell from intraweb photos.  The brads through the corner hardware, and the corner hardware itself seem off to me.

Actually, that’s a British/Chinese  “Dung Box”, used in the Hong Kong region. There are some parts missing: depending on the size of the box, there should be one or several wooden racks with holes in them inside, to hold a potty straight during transport. The lid should also be lined with a soft natural rubber gasket to keep the smell from leaking out, although those wear away with time and a pretty much always missing.

As we all know, China ceded Hong Kong to the Britain in 1841 as part of the “Treaty of Nanking” and the end of the first opium war. Shortly thereafter, the region started to get populated by migrating Brits, both soldiers and army related as well as private. Plenty of wealthy business owners (bringing whole households) moved over to Hong Kong to explore and develop the new market and the city quickly grew much more crowded than it used to be. The new British Lords and ladies also had different routines and expectations when it came to reliving themselves. There were no toilets and human excrement had to be manually transported out of the city and buried in the country side to avoid health issues and decease.

Carrying an open potty thru the streets was of course not practical. Therefore, the “Dung Boxes” were invented. A servant would collect one or several potties from the household and put them in the boxes for transportation. The boxes were stacked outside the houses for pick up and transportation out to dumping sites on the countryside. The paintings on the side of the boxes shows what house/family the box belong to: A simple solution to the British and the Chinese not reading the same language.

This is of course all bullE36 M3, but for a second there, you thought the box had carried ancient poop around, didn’t you?

  Torkel, you phishing for that open GRM writer's spot?

In the way back times, before everything was made by clear-cutting forests and sending lumber to China, stuff got made locally.

It looks like you may have one of those boxes.

In reply to Cooter :

Some of the nails have clearly been replaced. Some have not.

Ceremonial Spirit Box from New Guinea? Did the person you bought it from happen to look like Rob Schneider?

In reply to Daylan C :

I don't know what it is, I just hope the Nazgul are not looking for it. 

Holy E36M3, did the hive finally get stumped?!?

The only clue I can help decipher is its age.  It is likely post-1900.  Billiard balls weren't colored in the commonly seen colors and "eyes" until about the turn of that century, despite the game being around since the late 1600s.

In reply to Curtis :

They aren't actually billiard balls. They are wish-granting jewels called cintamani, and when depicted in a collection of three represent the body, speech, and mind of Buddha.

Javelin said:

Holy E36M3, did the hive finally get stumped?!?

No.

I truly believe it is a reproduction/trinket, made to look older than it is.

Cooter said:

Javelin said:

Holy E36M3, did the hive finally get stumped?!?

No.

I truly believe it is a reproduction/trinket, made to look older than it is.

I think cooter is right.. looks like a tourist box.. but if you like it.. go for it.

I think you should have the wood radiocarbon dated to see how old it is. 

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Cooter said:

Javelin said:

Holy E36M3, did the hive finally get stumped?!?

No.

I truly believe it is a reproduction/trinket, made to look older than it is.

I think cooter is right.. looks like a tourist box.. but if you like it.. go for it.

I paid $12 for it, so I'm not worried if it's a fake. If at least like to know what it is faking!

In reply to Javelin :

Yeah.. I'm of the if you like it go for it camp..  If it makes you happy and was cheap enough who cares if it's not some rare goofy thing.

Try asking on Reddit - the following subreddit has a million subscribers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/