Rare Vintage Collectible Hand Carved Wood Traditional Tongal Tobacco Lime (Betel Quid Paraphernalia) Gem Box Container Carrier from remote Sumba Island, Indonesia.

Rare vintage hand carved traditional wooden Box called Tongal, given as a present to the bride during a Sumbanese wedding (where she will store her jewelry, gems and such) or to a groom or man friend as a container for lime (betel Habit), tobacco or money.

Look carefully at the photos to be satisfied, there are 2 hair line age cracks on the golden wood but the box is solid.

This is a rare wooden vintage piece: beautifully hand carved box in great condition, with its unusual zigzag fitting lid. It was the traditional tobacco box from East Sumba in the past and some are still used today on special occasions, attached to the owner’s belt or waist strap, by a hand twine vegetal string.

 Since the inside of the box can only accommodate gems, betel ingredients, tobacco or money, they are used solely for that purpose by the royal class of Sumba. The top is dyed black. The bottom is made of eucalyptus wood. They are often part of the gifts during wedding ceremonies.

The tongal is a rare unusual piece and a prize for any collection.

Random splodges of red residue literally decorate the pavements of the region, coming from the villagers’ foaming, scarlet mouths.

The substance behind the stain is betel nut, or sirih pinang, a mildly intoxicating stimulant that provides a nicotine-like or espresso-esque buzz and suppresses appetite. It’s also carcinogenic – levels of mouth cancer are very high in societies that use the quid. The nut itself, which is large and oval-shaped, is actually the seed betel palm tree.

Chewing betel is a statement of adulthood, and the three parts that make up the ‘mix’ that are chewed together have symbolic meaning. The green stalk of the sirih represents the male, the nut or pinang the female ovaries, and the lime (kapor) the sperm. It’s the lime that causes the characteristic flood of red saliva in the mouth.

Betel nut traditionally played an important role in negotiation and discussion between different clans, and would always be offered to visitors as a gesture of welcome.

All our collector and rare items come with pages and pages of research about provenance, and with history of the tribes and photos as well, depending on item and whenever possible. When shipping internationally, we group ship multiple purchases to save you money, and find the best rates which often fails to calculate right. If you have any questions or want to see research conducted on this piece and photos of tribes, email or call us.