Making its mark: Seeing Chinese export silver from a new perspective

The 120-lot collection, inspired by the birthday gift of a tea caddy 20 years ago, represents a cross-section of the forms, patterns, retailers, and makers of silver in the late Qing and early Republic period.

Chinese silversmithing in the western manner has a long history. The distinctive ‘China Trade’ era wares began in the late 18th century as near copies of pieces made in London but by the mid 19th century had developed to become a medium truly of its own. Most pieces combine typical European forms with Chinese decoration.

Chinese export silver has been widely collected since the late 20th century. However, the market has been fuelled by a new buying audience from the Far East and by recent scholarship.

It is only in recent decades that the markings on these pieces have been properly studied. Previously the focus had been on the Arabic numerals, often 90 or 85, that allude to the purity of the silver and the prominent retailer’s marks in Latin characters. Large Canton, Shanghai and Hong Kong distributors operated, such as Wang Hing, the name that appears on numerous items made from c.1860-1930, were once erroneously credited as manufacturers.

However, it is now understood that it is the artisan’s marks stamped in Chinese characters that denote the actual silversmithing workshop responsible for producing the piece. As scholars slowly but surely build up a picture of these workshops and their output, understanding these marks has become the focus of collecting of ‘China Trade’ silver.

There are many good examples in the Gerard collection that are catalogued according to recent research on the topic.

A baluster form ewer with the mark WH for Wang Hing also carries the Chinese characters for Ye Bo. A prominent workshop in Canton (modern day Guangzhou) that appears to have almost exclusively supplied Wang Hing and the Shanghai retailer Luen Wo, it is noted for finely worked figural or scenic tableau. This ewer, estimated at £2500-3500, is chased and embossed to the body with storks fishing for eels with the handle and finial modelled as a prunus branch.

A similar ewer by this workshop formed part of the influential exhibition Chinese Export Silver: The Chan Collection shown at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore in 2005.

Chinese export silver ewer with marks for Ye Bo of Canton and the retailer Wang Hing, estimate £2500-£3500 at Chiswick Auctions.

A Cantonese campana form standing cup decorated with a figural battle scene (estimate £2000-3000) has the mark Quan Ji (the workshop of Quan). Like many pieces of its type, it was used as a trophy by one of the many sporting clubs set up by British expats in Shanghai and Hong Kong with the presentation inscription reading Moor 17 October 1886. 

Chinese export silver standing cup with marks for Quan Ji, estimate £2000-3000 at Chiswick Auctions.

A Republican period bowl c.1920 with cast and applied decoration of peacocks amid peonies and flowering prunus is marked for Tai Chang Long. Another of the Cantonese makers, the workshop appears to have made a speciality of this idiosyncratic wavy edged form that copies the English spittoon or the Portuguese cuspidor. It is unlikely they were intended as vessels for excess saliva, simply an example of how a European form took on new life in the hands of a Chinese silversmith. It has an estimate of £1500-2500.

Other uncommon forms in the Gerard collection include a Qing epergne or centrepiece with dragon’s head feet marked for the Shanghai maker Kun He and retailer Wo Shing (estimate £2000-3000).

Kun He operated in Shanghai between 1880-1925 producing well-made holloware often using cast and applied decoration. A similar epergne by the maker formed part of the Chinese Export Silver exhibition held by London dealer John Sparks in 1990.

Chinese export silver epergne or centrepiece with marks for the Shanghai maker Kun He and retailer Wo Shing, estimate £2000-3000 at Chiswick Auctions.