A rare silver mounted crocodile skull smoker's compendium, Siam, early 20th century
A rare silver mounted crocodile skull smoker's compendium, Siam, early 20th century
One of the most interesting items for any cabinets of curiosities: an early 20th century crocodile skull mounted in silver as a smoker’s compendium. The skull is fitted with match box holder, cigarette wells and ashtray; embellished with silver repoussé mounts depicting mythical creatures in Burmese folklore and crowned with a bronze figure of a man holding a spear. With an integrated wood base.
It was common in the early part of the 20th century for high ranking military and noblemen to hunt for sport and mount their trophies as skins, on shields, and very occasionally as smokers compendiums which would have taken pride of place in a library or an officer’s mess.
This particular compendium is attributed to Alex & Company, one of the best retailers of silverware in Bangkok, Siam, (now Thailand) around the 1920s. Despite being very rare, it is more commonplace to find the compendiums mounted onto tiger or leopard skulls, but never has a crocodile skull compendium been seen before. Could very possibly be a one-off, hence its presence in the Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Provenance: ex-collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum in Budapest, Hungary, then owned by the Institutional Art collection in Belgium, who acquired it from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: very good condition with expected surface wear, the silverware tarnished.
Dimensions: 63cm wide, 37cm high, 32cm deep.
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REFERENCE: B2285