The octagonal box was made within the Mughal empire, probably in the late 17th or early 18th century. The box and its cover are each fashioned to a very high standard from off-white nephrite jade that contains a few brownish, iron-stained, naturally occurring fractures.The box is made from a signle block of nephrite jade, and has a smooth, polished interior with a flat, smooth and polished underside. Its stepped rim has an elevated inner edge for keeping the cover in place. The side panels have been carved with a floral design in low relief, with each panel being bounded by a thin, raised border. The carved decoration is formed of two sets of four designs, with each pair of designs appearing on opposite sides of the box. The cover has also been carved from a single piece of nephrite and is gently domed with a smooth, polished interior. The only decoration is a set of shallow channels carved into the surface, joining the opposite corners of the octagon, giving eight identical isosceles triangle shaped segments. The upper surface has also been divided into eight isosceles triangle-shaped panels, each similarly carved and decorated to those on the box. The finial is part of the same piece of jade, and is carved in low relief as a multi-petalled flower bud surrounded by two superimposed rings of decoration, also in low relief. One ring is composed of eight leaves lying flat on the cover and pointing down the junctions between the panels. The second ring is of eight petals, recurved at their tips, pointing down through the apexes of the panels. The vertical rim allows the cover to be located securely onto the box and is decorated with broad chevrons in low relief, all pointing in the opposite direction to those on its two neighbouring sides. The box and cover fit perfectly together, and the craftsmanship is of such a high standard that it seems almost certain that they were made in the imperial workshops in Delhi or Agra. The box was used to hold pan (pronounced paan), the concoction of spices and chopped areca nut wrapped in a leaf of the betel tree which is chewed to aid digestion. The preparation and presentation of pan required an array of utensils and vessels. If these were to be used at court, they were often made of precious materials, including jade.
The box was previously owned by the notable collector of Mughal jade and rock crystal objects, Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie who sold it with other objects from his collection to the Indian Museum in Leadenhall Street, London, in 1868. They were all transferred to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.