Antique Asian Apothecary Medicine Chest

[FriscoT06]

Got this at the flea market today for $48 to keep for myself- i was wondering if anybody could help me get an age for this. It seems modern reproductions sell at Sears for $500, but the language characters on those are stamped, whereas mine are carved, would take a long time to do. Seems that originals also sell in the $500 range as well on Ebay. Any idea what language the characters are in, Korean, Chinese, Japanese? I will post more pics shortly as well of hardware used, in case it can be dated based on its construction. Any thoughts welcome, thanks guys!

 

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[FriscoT06]

Some drawers have been glued in the past, and the top, sides, and back of chest recently repainted in a stain, still smells. The drawer faces appear not recently repainted, but may have been clear lacquered over the original color at some point. Sorry if the picture in the first post wouldn't enlarge, it was just a thumbnail!

 

[FriscoT06]

Some drawer photos in a second-

 

[FriscoT06]

So what do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[Loco-Digger]

Great find for $48, it's a great price and a very nice piece. I would keep it to store my finds that are not being displayed in the printers drawer that hangs on the wall in my garage. I can see it now, 1 drawer for gold (empty), one for silver jewelry, 1 for scouting items, 1 for old coins that I do not have a folder for, 1 for wheat pennies, 1 for tootsie toys, and so on.

 

[stefen]

I could be wrong but it looks like its typical Japanese style by the cabinet top as opposed to other oriental origins.

Japanese architecture and cabinetry employ tremendous amounts of religious symbolism, which the top signifies using the up-swept ends.

The pulls with the bent over shanks are typical of Japanese cabinetry.

Usually, the cabinet makers use internal (hidden) mortice & tenon or dovetail joinery.

The embossed characters are used throughout most oriental languages...the meanings may differ by origin.

I would assume each drawer is dedicated to a specific herb or medication such as ground Rhino horn, Ginsing, and the like.

If someone was in the position to compare the characters using Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam interpretations, then that should point to the actual country of origin.

My bets on Japan...

 

[FriscoT06]

Great find for $48, it's a great price and a very nice piece. I would keep it to store my finds that are not being displayed in the printers drawer that hangs on the wall in my garage. I can see it now, 1 drawer for gold (empty), one for silver jewelry, 1 for scouting items, 1 for old coins that I do not have a folder for, 1 for wheat pennies, 1 for tootsie toys, and so on.

My thinking exactly! Gold, silver, coins, fossils, native artifacts by location, colonial by location, knick-knacks, etc.

 

[FriscoT06]

I could be wrong but it looks like its typical Japanese style by the cabinet top as opposed to other oriental origins.

Japanese architecture and cabinetry employ tremendous amounts of religious symbolism, which the top signifies using the up-swept ends.

The pulls with the bent over shanks are typical of Japanese cabinetry.

Usually, the cabinet makers use internal (hidden) mortice & tenon or dovetail joinery.

The embossed characters are used throughout most oriental languages...the meanings may differ by origin.

I would assume each drawer is dedicated to a specific herb or medication such as ground Rhino horn, Ginsing, and the like.

If someone was in the position to compare the characters using Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam interpretations, then that should point to the actual country of origin.

My bets on Japan...

Thanks! Very informative- i guess I will have to identify some of thee characters as either Kanji, Korean, Mandarin, etc. Any idea on a decade it may have been made in? I've seen some modern repros, 1930's/40's, 1870/80's, and late 1700's.

 

[FriscoT06]

I asked my Korean friend and he was able to identify the characters as old Chinese Kanji script! Now I can start translating which drawers held which herbs. I'll update again if I get a reliable date range.

 

[sutphin]

TO6 THATS A GREAT BUY .

 

[mcl]

It's Chinese, but due to the state of the pictures as well as the way the characters were carved on the drawers, it is very difficult for me to manage to decipher both of the characters on a given door. The only one that I am positive I transcribed correctly is the very bottom right small drawer (i.e., second to last row, last column), 三大, which Google translate says means "three". Without being able to decipher any other drawers it is difficult to tell what this means in context. In addition, I can't say for sure if each drawer is two words or just one (a character can stand alone as a word or combine to form a single word). The one that I did decipher seems to result in some of the same image search results whether it is put together or separated, so there is a chance that it means something to the effect of "big three" or "miraculous three".

 

[against the wind]

For sure you will recover your investment if you decide not to keep it. It will certainly enhance your favorite finds and keep them safe.

 

[FriscoT06]

Thank you all! Mcl, I will upload another photo I have showing the front of the chest in better light and in a higher resolution shortly if the website will allow its size, thanks!

 

[FriscoT06]

 

[FriscoT06]

 

[mcl]

Thank you all! Mcl, I will upload another photo I have showing the front of the chest in better light and in a higher resolution shortly if the website will allow its size, thanks!

Thank you for the pictures. Working on it now. I will update this post as I figure more out, but I think the one I just transcribed confirms the "different herb in every drawer" apothecary hypothesis. The bottom right large drawer (FYI for those who didn't notice, the pic is upside down) says 知母, which translates to Anemarrhena, a Chinese/Mongolian/Korean herb which, according to Wikipedia is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and the second result on Google is from a site called "acupuncture today".

Even if this cabinet is not an antique, you struck a proverbial gold mine picking it up for $48. Downright awesome piece.

 

[CHUDs]

Nice score! It looks as if it was recently spray painted on the top...can the brass edging be cleaned so it shows the brass again? It my increase its aesthetic value if not its monetary value.

 

[FriscoT06]

Nice score! It looks as if it was recently spray painted on the top...can the brass edging be cleaned so it shows the brass again? It my increase its aesthetic value if not its monetary value.

Correct, the back, sides and top have been sprayed/stained recently. Not the front. I was thinking the same thing show off the brass!

 

[FriscoT06]

Thank you for the pictures. Working on it now. I will update this post as I figure more out, but I think the one I just transcribed confirms the "different herb in every drawer" apothecary hypothesis. The bottom right large drawer (FYI for those who didn't notice, the pic is upside down) says 知母, which translates to Anemarrhena, a Chinese/Mongolian/Korean herb which, according to Wikipedia is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and the second result on Google is from a site called "acupuncture today".

Even if this cabinet is not an antique, you struck a proverbial gold mine picking it up for $48. Downright awesome piece.

Thank you! I found that the character on the right side of the drawer that is in the 4th row from the top, 4th column from the left is for cinnamon! ...Wikipedia lol.

 

[FriscoT06]

2nd row, 4th column, both characters together mean rhubarb.