Handmade Lacquered Mango Wood Boxes (Pair), "Floral Octagons"

Sleek black lacquer is strewn with brilliant flowers, each one painted by hand. Nantana Sompamitre creates the floral gardens on a matched pair of octagonal boxes. She carves mango wood into the desired shape and coats it with lacquer. Once dried it is polished, and another coat is applied – up to twenty times – before as many six coats of pure lacquer finish the piece. The final layer is polished with powdered fired clay.