The set of snuff bottles are made out of painted enamel. On each painted with two zodiac animals which represents one out of the twelve zodiacs in China.More than 30,000 years ago, Chinese ancestors invented the 10 Tian Gan(or heavenly stems)and 12 Di Zhi(or 12 earthly branches for chronological purpose. Later, people used 12 animals to symbolize the 12 earthly branches in order to make things easier to memorize and the animals in order are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. You might found out that many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is primary factor in determining that person's characteristics.