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Medicine Tin
Large upright square shaped metal tin (a) with lid (b) used to store wrapped pill bottles and papers; a raised rim surrounds the upper edge of the tin and has attachments on 2 opposite sides for oval wire handles; a closure flap is attached to the edge of lid that provides a method to secure the lid to the base through a metal loop; enclosed within the tin are 132 wrapped bottles (c); most of the bottles are covered and sealed within white paper wrappers with adhered labels; the labels are printed with red and include border designs, a phoenix (?) design and Chinese text; one bottle has the upper portion of the paper wrapper ripped to expose an inner glass bottle with a narrow neck, a wood (?) stopper and rolled paper instructions; 3 bottles are not enclosed in paper wrappers, they have adhered paper labels similar in design and text to the ones on the paper wrappers; bottles contain yellow pills; one wrapper is ripped and is empty; loose beige coloured paper sheets (d) appear to have been separated from their paper wrappers, they would have originally been rolled and placed around the bottles; these sheets are printed in black with an all-over border design, floral motifs, pictorial scenes and a phoenix (?) design surrounding a central panel of Chinese text and English text that includes: Shu Yan Tonic Pills; a folded Chinese newspaper (e) was originally used to pad the interior base of the tin; the newspaper has Chinese text and advertisements; the tin has been left intact with the contents as found.