A mid-20^th century Burmese silver betel box on stand, Rangoon circa 1958 by Thayet SIlverware

The box of cylindrical form with a pull off domed lid surmounted by a detachable cast figure of a female kinnari dancer. The sides with high relief embossed Ramayana scenes within architraves against a fish scale ground. Depicting scenes from Rama and the Demon Tataka, such as Rama, Lakshmana and Vishwamitra in Tataka’s forest, Rama drawing his arrow to slay Tataka, Tataka’s son Maricha and Subahu descending to earth to attack Rama, all above a band of stylised betel leaves. The lid with embossed vignettes of zodiac symbols; Meittha, Pyeittha, Mei-don, Karakat, Thein, Kan, Tu, Pueitsa, Nu, Makaya, Kon and Mein. The interior with a removable tray, flat chased to the centre with a peacock. The stand of circular form with an ovolo edge raised upon embossed and pierced bracket feet of the winged figure of Garuda, flanked by foliate scrolls. The centre of the stand with a flat chased roundel of a peacock. Prick-dot engraved to the lid with a presentation inscription reading “with compliments from the Hon’ble Thakin Tin to R.T. Hon’ble Hugh Gaitskell”. The underside of box stamped ‘THAYET SILVERWARE RANGOON’, the other elements unmarked.

Height – 30.5 cm / 12.1 inches

Diameter (stand) – 21.4 cm / 8.5 inches

Weight – 1887 grams / 60.67 ozt

Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE (1906 – 1963) was Leader of the British Labour Party from 1955 until his death in 1963. Born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest child of Arthur Gaitskell (1869–1915), of the Indian Civil Service, and Adelaide Mary, née Jamieson (died 1956), whose father, George Jamieson, was consul-general in Shanghai and prior to that had been Judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan. The Gaitskell’s had a long family connection with the Indian Army, and he spent his childhood in Burma. After his father's death, his mother soon remarried and returned to Burma, leaving him at boarding school.

15 Jan 1958: visits by Hugh Gaitskell to south-east Asia (India, Burma, Singapore, Malaya, Ceylon and Pakistan). National Council of Labour minutes, 1953-1960, Warwick University Library (MSS.292/32/8)

This is where Gaitskell would have most likely has been presented with this Betel box from Thakin Ba Thein Tin (1914–1995) who was a Burmese communist and the chairman of Communist Party of Burma (CPB) from 1975 to 1989.

Kinnara are mythical creatures that are half human and half bird that dwell in the Himaphan (Himavanta), a legendary forest which surrounds Mount Meru, the mythical abode of the gods, in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.