Chinese Export silver marks – early quality control

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-19^th 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

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.

CHINESE EXPORT SILVER FOUR PIECE TEA SET – Esme Parish Silver

Each piece has his mark :

Occasionally we find pieces with Wang Hing written in full

CHINESE EXPORT SILVER BASKET – Esme Parish Silver

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 19^th and early 20^th 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

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 20^th 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

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 20^th century

But often we see his name in full

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

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.

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

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