Carved Wooden Qur'an Box
19.5 cm high, 24.5 cm long, 10.5 cm deep
Further images
A late nineteenth-century carved wooden box from the island of Lombok, Indonesia. The distinctive cuboid shape with inward-sloping walls is typical of lontar boxes made by the Sasak communities of Lombok, designed to hold palm-leaf Qur’an manuscripts (lontar). The lid is inscribed with the shahada in an unusual script, likely by a craftsman who does not read Arabic.
The top of the lid is carved with quatrefoil flowers, reminiscent of Javanese work. A medicine container held in a private collection in Jakarta features similar floral carving on its drawers.[1]
Small semi-circular loops protrude from the sides of the box at its base and on the lid. A cord would have been threaded through these to secure the lid to the box. On one side of the lid is an unrelated Qing dynasty coin, Kangxi Tongbao, which has been added as a washer.
[1] Dharmawangsa Collection,
https://www.dharmawangsa-art.com/bali/medicine-container-java