Used in Dai Song Tong herbalist shop operated by Wong Kee (a.k.a. Wong Wah Soon) at 10 Pine Street. Wong Kee was a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. He operated Dai Song Tong until the early 1920s. The balancing scale was used to weigh ingredients for making medicine. The artifact was donated to the Nanaimo Museum by one of Wong Kee's sons, Chuck Wong.
Said to be original examples of Chinese coins dating from 1644-1911, though this seems unlikely, they are more likely modern reproductions of old coins, they were purchased by the donor from an importer in Vancouver as a set and apparently displayed on the photocopied sheet of paper with the dynasty names and dates corresponding with the coins. They were removed from the mount they were received in for conservation purposes, the paper mount is 1999.561.011
The figurehead was carved in Hong Kong and was mounted on the Rendezvous Cruiser: the bathtub entry for the Diners' Rendezvous restaurant. The distinctive red tub could be seen speeding around the harbour in the late 1960's and early 1970's