Tea caddy

[Adriano]

I have this small piece 7w X 10h cm, I think it is a tea caddy.
Judging by the decoration and in particular the simplified style of chrysanthemums, it could be dated to the late 19th century.
I have seen pieces with similar decoration dated in the 1890s.
It seems that there is no date.
The bottom mark could be Tongzhi Nian Zhi, Da Qing, when Tongzhi marks are printed usually are of Guangxu period.

Thanks for comments.

[Adriano]

more

[peterp]

Could you post a picture of the lid from above? Are there only three characters?

[Adriano]

Yes, just three.

[peterp]

Thanks for the picture.

法八之?  法人之? 

I cannot see any sense in this. Anyone else?

Does it look as if to the right of the 之 character another character was removed? Any scratch marks? If there was one originally, it might mean that this container was for herbal medicine or the like.

BTW, the writing style of the few characters on the lid and those on the jar side do not look the same.

[Adriano]

Hi Peter,

thank you for yours considerations.
There is no sign of rubbed character on the cover, may be the writer forgot to write one.
Do to the small dimensions, it is more likely that it is a container for herbal medicines instead of tea.
Is it possible that another writer had indicated the use of the piece on the cover?
I would like to mention that this piece was sold together the miniature cup I posted recently.
May be the cup was to dose the herbal medicines.
For the period, what do you think about my thought?