Burmese Yun-De Round Lacquer Box with Handle Canton porcelain box The hand-painted design--really a drawing

The hand-painted design--really a drawing on clay--reminds me of a  map with shape-shifting land masses

This may just be my favorite little box ever

I've learned that an exact match was made as an umpire's ball and strike keeper--which has become quite the collectible because it allowed for a count of five balls and four strikes

I love the handle for easy carrying from one spot to another

Burmese Yun-De Round Lacquer Box with Handle Canton porcelain box The hand-painted design--really a drawingThis is a lovely small Burmese lacquer box decorated with yun de incised decoration, painstakingly executed by hand, one color at a time. The design features what I believe are guardian lions ("chinthe"; the equivalent to "foo dogs" in Chinese culture) repeating around the perimeter of both top and bottom halves of the box. The solid orange red lacquer handle at the center of the top makes this box particularly nice, with a circle of fine lines around