A betel set in two carved parts, a slender baluster container on a lotus foot and a removable figural stopper that lifts out of its mouth. Lime is one of the elements of betel chewing, the catalyst that with areca nut and leaf makes the mild stimulant shared at gatherings and exchanges, and these carved sets were personal, handled things kept close.

White lime is still worked into the incised lines across the carving, the residue of its use rubbed permanently into the pattern. The form and the figural stopper place it in eastern Indonesia, most likely Timor or the Lesser Sunda islands; the exact island is held open. A complete and characterful piece of regional material culture, container and stopper still together.