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A very rare ancient Roman bronze medicine box with scoop-probe, dating to the 1st-2nd Century A.D.
The box is of typical late Hellenistic - early Roman form, with four chambers, two of which are covered by hinged lids with loop handles. The box is enclosed by a still functional sliding lid, which could have been secured in ancient times by means of the swivel lock on the front.
Boxes of this form are known to have been used by physicians, as portable containers for surgical instruments and medicinal substances. Compare a similar example in the museum of Naples1, and a collection of instruments, including a medicine box, in the British Museum, London.2
The scoop-probe would have been a convenient all-in-one surgical tool; the probe being used to explore complex wounds and the scoop used to remove any associated pus/foreign matter.
Dimensions of box: 4 1/4 x 2 3/8 x 3/4 inches.
Length of scoop-probe: 6 3/4 inches.
Condition: The box unrestored. The sliding lid and hinged lids still function. The scoop-probe is restored at the scoop end as shown.
Provenance: Ex. British private collection, acquired 1980's. The instrument and box reputedly from the same findspot.
References:
1See the following page for examples of instruments and the box in Naples (bottom).
2See the following image of pieces on display at the British museum in 1910.
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