The front and backsides have four Chinese characters - ‘Yun Wai Tian Xiang’ meaning “fragrance fills the skies”. Characters on the back are – ‘Yi Shou Yan Nian’ meaning “to prolong one’s life.” The sides have two symbols associated with the eight immortal Taoist symbols. There are a couple of marks around this box. Marks near the hinge are “Jing Du” and “Bao Yu” indicating that the case probably belonged to a person named ‘Bao Yu’ from ‘Jing Du’. In this instance, ‘Jing Du’ refers to the capital, Beijing. On the underside of the box: are four Chinese characters in the center, ‘Fu Gui Shou Kao’ that mean “full of wealth” and “good social position”, additionally there are two endless knot symbols, one above and one below the Chinese characters, and a Shou character on either end. On the top of the box are right and left markings on the rim. Right side markings are ‘Yi Ji Ju Yue’- ‘Yi Ji’ indicates the Chinese year, 1845 and ‘Ju Yue’ refers to the “chrysanthemum month” which is equated with autumn. The left hand side is marked with the company name: Guo You Ao Ji.

This is an unusual and rarely seen silver case; with all these markings and symbols together, it is most likely a custom made piece for ‘Bao Yu’.

Condition is excellent with some age wear and slight top dent near the rim.