Curio Box

Red antique Chinese (?) box with MERCURY-based paint! 17,000 ppm Mercury! This is very dangerous! (I learn new things every day!)

February 13, 2022October 20, 2023

Published: February 13, 2022 Red antique “Chinese” curio-box, scroll down to see the full XRF test results for this box. When I do home consultations, and visit families and friends in my travels, I come across interesting treasures… Given the diversity of art and the vast potential for humans to create limitless objects — for both function…

Vintage curio box with R and Rooster on brass lid: 205 ppm Lead in the lid (90 ppm & up is unafe for kids.)

December 14, 2021December 3, 2023

XRF test results for the box pictured… Reading #1) Brass lid of box 60-second reading Lead (Pb): 205 +/- 30 ppm Cadmium (Cd): non-detect Mercury (Hg): non-detect Bromine (Br): non-detect Chromium (Cr): non-detect Iron (Fe): 344 +/- 39 ppm Nickel (Ni): 96 +/- 46 ppm Copper (Cu): 843,200 +/- 500 ppm Zinc (Zn): 155,000 +/-…

Small metal curio box with porcelain lid: 533 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 14 ppm Cadmium

December 22, 2019

2019 | Box | Curio Box

When tested with an XRF instrument this small metal box with a porcelain lid had the following readings: Silver colored edge: Lead (Pb): 533 +/- 177 ppm Chromium (Cr): 355 +/- 126 ppm Zinc (Zn): 1,267 +/- 429 ppm Copper (Cu): 944,000 +/- 1,400 ppm Iron (Fe): 1,167 +/- 281 ppm Silver (Ag): 51,400 +/-…

Who has a trinket box like this at home? This is from Kashmir, India: 192,500 ppm Lead [90 ppm is unsafe for kids.]

July 17, 2019July 26, 2019

When tested with an XRF instrument, this little trinket box from Kashmir, India had the following readings*: Top Area, white base paint with colorful decorations (image above): Lead (Pb): 192,500 +/- 12,000 ppm Barium (Ba): 7,824 +/- 870 ppm Zinc (Zn): 3,117 +/- 265 ppm Vanadium (V): 5,081 +/- 494 ppm Titanium (Ti): 12,300 +/-…