A particularly sophisticated example of a type now thought to have been made as jewellery caskets in Gujarat or Sind in Mughal India during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was delicately inlaid to the teak or padouk carcase with flowering lilies. Some of these inlays were missing, as was the original lock.
Lawrences' specialist Richard Gold - who described the winning bid (a multiple of the £1500-2000 estimate) as "a fantastic price" - said the purchaser was an English artist.
The sale took place on April 11 and the buyer's premium was 19.5%.
