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 the Britain and the other Western nations after the Opium Wars of the 1840’s the Chinese silversmiths found their own genre and their own way of marking

From the mid-19^t 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

Let’s look at one of these marks

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 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 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.

 From time to time you even see Wang Hing pieces marked with “95”

   This is the mark on this bowl

Wang Hing was so well established that he had a supply arrangement with Edward and Sons of Glasgow – to make the British hallmark system the pieces had to be 92.5% silver.  So this bowl has both import marks and Chinese marks

Occasionally we find pieces with Wang Hing written in full

      which was found on this basket

This mark is often considered to be the work of the master himself –Maybe…

HongKong  is a huge source of Chinese Export silver but in the late 19^th and early 20^th century it was a bit of a cowboy town

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 Shanghao from 1880’s through to the 1930’s

Here is an example of his mark

     which is on this superb hand mirror

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

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

  and here is his mark 

But often we see his name in full

  the mark

Again you see the lightly hammered background

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

Here we have a complete vanity set which is still in the original silk lined box

And here is the mark – once again the Western initials and the Chinese silver maker’s chop

Sometimes you find just the Chinese chop – certainly on any Straits settlement silver – these pieces were meant for the local market so no need for western letters

Here is a magnificent tall Chinese Export silver 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

CHINESE EXPORT SILVER DRAGON VASE – Esme Parish Silver

There are lists of the Chinese silver marks on the internet

But if  you have a piece which you think might be Chinese Export silver then do get in touch

Touch the what’s app button

I’ll need a photo of that all important mark as well one of the item

Marks still rule!