This small box combines functionality with beauty. The top bears four dials arranged in a row to create the eight-number code of an early “combination lock” as well as silver, gold, and copper inlays that form an intricate interlace pattern and provide the date of the box’s production in the late twelfth century. Large portions of the sides and bottom of the box are modern reconstructions, but the set of three gilded brass figures applied to its front face may be original. While it is not uncommon to see human figures bronzes from Iran, these are usually inlaid rather than applied. If the figures on the box are genuine, they may represent guards watching over whatever was held inside.

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