"Sun King Pastille" Pharmaceutical Box

An antique lithographed tin pharmaceutical box, originally used for packaging the famous "La Pastille du Roi Soleil" cough lozenges. The lid features an elegant Belle Époque design on a pale green background, enhanced with gilding, with a central portrait of the Sun King in a medallion marked "Marque déposée" (Registered Trademark) and evocative advertising slogans such as "Du Soleil dans vos bronchiches" (Sunshine in your lungs). The inside of the lid retains a lengthy printed text detailing the dosage and formula, including substances now regulated, typical of late 19th-century pharmacopoeias. This type of box perfectly illustrates the transition from medicine to advertising item and is an emblematic piece of antique French pharmacy.

✦ Origin: France
✦ Estimated period: Early 20th century
✦ Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 2 cm
✦ Material: Lithographed sheet metal
✦ Condition: Significantly worn, with visible oxidation and pitting, rubbing and loss of gilding, but the lithography and text are still legible.

Highly decorative antique pharmaceutical box, sought after for its iconography of the Sun King and its Belle Époque design, ideal for a collection of antique pharmacopoeia or medical advertising.