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The current work consists of twelve empty jars coated with silver. On the surfaces of each are the names of various bodily fluids including, 'Schleim' (mucus), 'Trnen' (tears) and 'Samen' (semen), in German Gothic lettering. The substances named in the jars are both life-sustaining, such as blood and milk, as well as connected with desease and dying, such as puss and vomit.
According to Paolo Colombo: "Many associations spring to mind when confronted with Smith's specimen jars. One thinks of the canopie jars of ancient Egypt, which contained the body's viscera and were buried with the body after mummification. There is also the ancient Roman tradition of using a 'prefica', or hired female mourner, to collect tears in containers, which were then buried with the dead to insure that the deceased was thoroughly and properly mourned... covered with silver coating, the jars act as mirrors reflecting those who approach them. Once confronted with one's own reflection superimposed on the name of a bodily secretion, the jars become signs of funereal language anf function as a contemporary 'memento mori', a reminder of our transitory nature." (In: Paolo Colombo, 'Kiki Smith', The Hague, 1990, p.144)