Mango-shaped dish with silver cover

A row of flowers on leafy stems decorates the jade walls of the bowl of this mango-shaped dish, probably for storing paan (the ingredients for chewing betel nuts). The petals are worked with care, one petal bending back on each flower. The leaves are also given a three-dimensional treatment. On the bottom a leaf with distinct veins is carved in low relief. One unusual feature is that the stem bends back and divides into two scroll ends; this might be an attempt to copy European motifs. The silver cover repeats the floral scrollwork on the container and the leaf design on its base except that it has two leaves instead of one. The knob is made of jade inlaid with gold.
Indians believe that silver keeps paan fresh, so it is appropriate that the jade paan container should have a silver cover (Pratapaditya Pal, personal communication).

While the overall shape and floral design are typically Mughal, the fact that every flower is identical may be a sign that the box is a Chinese copy. An Indian artisan might have been more spontaneous and might have created more variations among the petals.