CHINESE EXPORT SILVER BOX – Esme Parish Silver
Chinese Export silver marks
British silver is hall marked with a coded system
See my blog:
English Silver Marks – Esme Parish Silver
And initially, interestingly, in the early years of Chinese Export silver a similar coding system was used by the Chinese silversmiths- it seemed to please the foreigners who were buying their silver so…
See my blog:
The Origins of Chinese Export Silver – In the Beginning.. – Esme Parish Silver
But as trade opened up with Britain and the other Western nations after the Opium Wars of the 1840’s
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars
the Chinese silversmiths found their own genre and their own way of marking
From the mid-19th Century the Chinese silver marks began to form a pattern
There would be western mark – usually with the letters of the silver shop and then a Chinese mark which would be the mark of the silversmith who actually made the product
Mark of Wang Hing of Hong Kong
This is mark of the well-known silversmith, Wang Hing, who was known to have a shop in Queens Road, Hong Kong from the 1880’s through to the 1930’s.
WH obviously stands for the initials and the Chinese chop in the centre indicates the silversmith who actually made the piece – Just like Rembrandt and the Night Watch, Wang Hing would have had a team of craftsmen working to his specifications and quality – He could not have possibly made all those pieces with his mark himself! He would not have had a wink of sleep!!
But what does the “90” mean? When tested the pieces made by Wang Hing are all of high-quality silver. The “90” indicates this quality and many pieces are well in excess of 90% silver.
A late 19th century four piece tea set by Wang Hing of Hong Kong
CHINESE EXPORT SILVER FOUR PIECE TEA SET – Esme Parish Silver
Each piece has his mark :
An example of the mark of Wang Hing of Hong Kong
Occasionally we find pieces with Wang Hing written in full
A Chinese Export silver Basket by Wang Hing c 1900
CHINESE EXPORT SILVER BASKET – Esme Parish Silver
Wang Hing mark written in full
This mark is often considered to be the work of the master himself –Maybe…
But whatever, the Wang Hing mark is a guarantee of quality – both of the silver content and the craftsmanship – early quality control
Hong Kong was a huge source of Chinese Export silver but in the late 19th and early 20th century it was considered a bit of a cowboy town full of bucaneers!
The REAL centre of life was sophisticated and diplomatic Shanghai and some of the best silversmiths / silver retailers were based there
Luen Wo was one of the most prestigeous retail shops with top quality pieces and was renowned for his pieces with the chrysanthemum motif
Trading alamancs have him working in Shanghai from 1880’s through to the 1930’s
Here is an example of his mark
Mark of Luen Wo of Shanghai
Fine example of the work of Luen Wo of Shanghai
The depth and detail of the chrysanthemum flowers ..
Once again we see the western initials and the Chinese chop of the actual craftsman
Sometimes we find pieces with “Luen Wo” written in full – often pieces that were made in the early 20th century
Here we have a classic Chinese Export silver bowl where the inscription dates it to 1917 and the Luen Wo is written in full
A friendly ! bowl by Luen Wo which dates it 1917
Luen Wo’s mark written in full
CHINESE SILVER FRIENDLY BOWL – Esme Parish Silver
There were other well established silver makers/retailers in Shanghai
Tuck Chang was well known for his lightly hammered backgrounds often with bamboo and many of his pieces date from the early 20th century
Detail of a Chinese Export silver jewellery box by Tuck Chang showing the lightly hammered background
mark of Tuck Chang (TC) struck twice
But often we see his name in full
PRESENTATION BOWL – Esme Parish Silver
But as with Wang Hing you see a western mark and a Chinese chop – the silver shop in western script with the makers mark in Chinese script.
Another well known Shanghai based name was Hung Chong – again indicated in the trading almanacs to be working in the last years of the 19th and early years of the 20th century
Here we have a complete vanity set which is still in the original silk lined box
Each piece is marked with HC and a chinese chop
CHINESE EXPORT SILVER VANITY SET – Esme Parish Silver
Sing Fatt ( various spellings ) was a silversmith who continued working in Canton after the Opium wars – and again you find some excellent quality examples of his work.
Late 19th century three piece Chinese silver tea set by Sin Fat of Canton
Sin Fat’s mark – and as you can see once again “90” has been added to indicate quality
Sometimes you find just the Chinese chop – certainly on any Straits settlement silver – these pieces were meant for the local market , never meant to travel so no need for those western letters
A hexagonal Straits settlement box c 1900
Here is a magnificent tall Chinese Export silver presentation vase
Crisp as the day it was made -clearly for a western buyer- the shape , the size , the dragon motif but the vase only has a Chinese chop – no western mark
This is clearly a top quality presentation piece – maybe the buyer just wanted to cut out the retailer , or knew a quality silver maker so no need to go via a retail shop.
CHINESE EXPORT SILVER DRAGON VASE – Esme Parish Silver
Whatever happens when you are being offered Chinese Export silver look for the marks – the well established silver shops in Hong Kong , Shanghai and Canton will have marked the pieces – their guarantee of quality. The private makers would have been proud of their work and so would have marked them
Occasionally if pieces were part of a set not all the pieces in the set would have been marked . Years later the set could have been separated and so an unmarked piece of good Chinese Export silver can be found ( often Chinese Export silver napkin rings are unmarked )
There are lists of Chinese Export silver marks on the internet – there are many!
If you have a piece which you think might be Chinese Export silver and would like to learn more then do get in touch
Touch the what’s app button https://wa.me/6591546662
I’ll need a photo of that all important mark as well one of the item
Marks still rule!
Look forward to hearing from you