Coconut, Jungle Gourd, Lontar Seed Betel Nut Lime Powder Containers

Here you will find a selection of Lime Powder Containers made from Coconut, Jungle Gourd and Lontar Palm Seeds.
There are just a few men in the central highlands of West Timor that specialise in carving containers. Not plentiful, I consider myself fortunate if sometimes a small selection of this style of containers are available to me when I go there.
More often than not these containers are plainer than their bone, buffalo horn, bamboo or wood counterparts, most have wooden heads for plugs and sometimes beadwork decorating them.

The motifs include the Timorese version of the Kaif or the diamond and hook which represents the carvers’ clan and totemic guardian spirits and crocodiles that feature heavily in the craft from the Land of the Sleeping Crocodile.
Copyright Julie Emery 22/02/2022©