Is This Asian Vessel old or new to look old?

[JeanneCurt]

Hi!
A friend has 4 boxes of items from Asian countries that have been stored since the 1980's after a relative died.  She was with the government and traveled all over Asia.

This is one of the items that we can't figure out.

It weighs 2 pounds and has 5 panels on the sides with scenes that are covered with glass.  The pictures look like they might be a print.  I do not know what the metal is but a magnet doesn't stick to it.

It is about 7" tall with the cover on.

Thanks for any help!!
Jeanne

[bigwull]

are the pics transparent....it reminds me of a small funeral urn....

[JeanneCurt]

The piece seems to be solid so no light shows through.  It doesn't look like the pictures are reverse painted on the glass either.

[gerspee]

This is a Chinese tea caddy made off pewter . Most off them are 19th century but could be also a copy made in the last century . If real very nice to have .

[mart]

I thought tea caddy too !! Do you recognize the seal Gerspee ??

[gerspee]

No unfortunately not.  Maybe there some links on the Internet about Chinese pewter marks .   

[mart]

If its pewter,, the glass over the pics makes sense !! The pics may have been painted on another material then sandwiched between the container and the glass !!  Couldn`t figure why the glass if it was pottery,, that would be fired on !!  More logical now !!

[KC]

This is a pewter Chinese 5 panel tea caddy.  Often referred to as Shantou pewter.  The older ones had silk panels.

Only thing I know is that the top part of the mark shows the district that it is from.  Have the same mark on another piece. If I have it correctly, it means:
cross the top and from the right in two characters: 潮陽 - Chaoyang, (meaning Chaoyang District) Shantou city 汕頭市, Guangdong Province.

I believe yours is a modern rendition...Does this one resemble yours?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Early-20thC-Swatow-Oriental-Chinese-Pewter-Tea-Caddy-5-Reverse-Painted-Panels-/300923932973?nma=true&si=yncbuJT7jNIJ5Hti9nwxemJnxOY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557