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i recently purchased this and don't know what it is.
im trying to find out it's origin and what exactly is.
its small in size like 1 inch material is heavy and people have told me that its one of the rarest items they have seen and been offering up to 400.00 dollars. I'm like WOW for this ? so thats why i need to know if i should sell or hold on to it or something.

it has two marking on the bottom that i cant make out because its in the same language in the front.

I can't speak to whether this item is rare or old, but the writing that is legible to me on the middle two bottles in the second picture suggest this is supposed to be a Daoist alchemists kit.

The second bottle on the left appears to be labeled 'Sha Le Fan', which in the context of alchemy might be read as 'Cinnabar Grains of Happiness for Every Occasion'.

The second bottle on the right is labeled 'Hong Ling Dan', which translates to 'The Elixir of Immortality'.

The other bottles have obscure or irregular characters that I've been unable to identify on short notice, but what they all really need is warning labels for anyone tempted to take a taste. All such Daoist immortality potions were based on cinnabar, an ore of mercury, and are highly toxic.

In sum, if you want some sound medical advice, you should take this object and its alleged contents 'with a grain of salt'.

Good luck,

Bill H.

i will post more pictures of the bottom of this. it has two markings.
and thank you so very much for helping me with this.
you are very kind :)

Very interesting items.

These are cupro-nickel (or called white copper in China) pill/powder bottles used to hold pills/powder during late Qing dynasty or early Republic so that they could be sold in Chinese herbal pharmacy to customers.

From ancient time due now, when one is sick and goes to see a Chinese herbal doctor, after he diagnoses your disease, he will then write a prescription that comprises of different herbs. One will then takes it to a local Chinese herbal shop (pharmacy), then they will have to mix and prepare different herbs (in different quantity) according to the doctor's instructions. Some herbs need special preparation (ground, cut, etc.) and then they will put all the mixed herb in paper (wrap together)and one will take it home and boil them in water according to the doctor's prescription and then drink it. It is like compounding in today's pharmacy. Therefore, it can be quite cumbersome and if some time some herbs may not be readily available or if there are a lot of people get sick it will be difficult to fill so many identical prescription. Therefore, some herbal shop chose some very popular and effective Chinese herbal medicine, and made them into pills or powder, stored them in these types of white copper bottles and sold them to their customers.

My grandpa was a Chinese herbal doctor who traveled to Australia in the 50s, earned his fortune, became an Australian citizen but decided to return to Hong Kong where he bought a farm. I still have some Australian paper notes and gold sovereign (and half sovereign) he bought back home. My mom took me to see herbal doctors when I was young and forced me to drink very bitter Chinese herbal medicine. It would be great if they would have these types of pills.

The metal used to make this types of pill bottles is usually an alloy composed of copper and nickel (at least 18%) and they called it "white copper" in China.

Bottles from left to right, three characters from top to bottom are:

Ping an san - this is in a powder form and that may be why you see a long spoon or spatula so that the powder can be scooped out. This powder is used to cure cholera. Therefore travelers always carry it with them when they travel to assure their "safety" (Ping An).

Sha Yao Wan - wan means pills, I cannot find any details on what they are used for.

Hong Ling Dan - hong means RED, in this case the red color probably comes from cinnabar and it also contains sulfur (realgar) and I believe it may be grounded into a paste to apply on carbuncles or gangrene that were not ruptured or for early penile tumors.
http://big5.wiki8.com/honglingdan_58484/

Shi Zheng Wan - these are pills for fever, epidermic, heat strokes, etc.

I cannot tell how old your bottles are, I believe if you clean them, they will become more silvery but the original patina should be left alone.
I will guess they were probably from the 20s or 30s or may be even earlier.

These links show some white copper bottles with (some with same medicine name) that were for sales. But they look much worse than yours and I believe they are all modern:

http://www.gucn.com/Service_CurioStall_Show.asp?Id=2090552

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=6034229456

http://www.shuobao.com/shop/gudongzaxiang/tongqi/210677.htm

Well, hope this helps and thanks for sharing your pill bottles with us.

Bill

i was able to take some more pictures of bottom just in case you knew what it reads or means.
Also i would like to thank you for taking the time to explain to me what this is and all the effort and knowledge you have passed down to me on this item. :)

i was able to take some more pictures of bottom just in case you knew what it reads or means.
Also i would like to thank you for taking the time to explain to me what this is and all the effort and knowledge you have passed down to me on this item. :)

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