Busacca Gallery

A spectacular etched box. A good example of a betel nut box with bronze carvings and three lidded compartments. Tribal Art. This box is displaying traditional art motifs of scrolling floral and geometric designs of against the rich bronze patina of the exterior and interior. Horseshoe-shaped handles are missing on both sides of the flat-topped, rectangular bronze box. Three inner compartments with hinged lids are for betel nuts, betel leaves, and slaked lime paste. White residue on the edges is lime paste deposited from use and is easily cleaned if desired. Chewing betel nuts, the common name for the Areca Palm nut, in betel quid, a mixture of betel leaf, areca nut, and slaked lime (hydrogenated calcium – Ca(HO2), is a stimulant that has been commonly practiced throughout South East Asia and China for more than 2000 years. Intricately inlaid Lutuan were prominently displayed and used by wealthy Maranao families to impress arriving guests when offering betel quid. A Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood, and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture. In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia

The areca nut is the fruit of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific (Melanesia and Micronesia), Southeast and South Asia, and parts of east Africa. This fruit is commonly referred to as betel nut so it is easily confused with betel (Piper betle) leaves that are often used to wrap it (paan). The term areca originated from the Malayalam word adakka and dates from the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut from Kerala to Europe. Consumption has many harmful effects on health and is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient which is similar to nicotine), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts.