Beautiful vintage hand painted paper mache box made by the Ali Brothers, Hassan Abad, Srinagar 190003, Kashmir, India, 4th quarter 20th century. Measures 6.5 inches long, 4 inches wide and 2 inches high. Excellent condition, painted with pink, blue and yellow over a gold and black ground. Papier mache or paper mache is derived from French meaning 'chewed paper'. Paper Mache is a composite material consisting of paper pulp reinforced with some adhesive which hardens upon drying and then is painted upon. Paper Mache was introduced in Kashmir by the Persian Mystic Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, popularly known as Shah-i-Hamdan in Kashmir. It is believed that during his visit to Kashmir, the Shah was accompanied by a host of craftsmen who were favored by the local court of the Sultan of Kashmir, Zain-ul-Abidin. After time the art and craft that was ancestral to these artisans from Persia and Central Asia started to flourish in the vale of Kashmir.