Chinese Export Silver Chrysanthemum Box by Hung Chong of Shanghai 中国银古董 古董 银器 历史

Description

Chinese Export Silver Chrysanthemum Box by Hung Chong of Shanghai
Beautiful, heavy gauge solid silver box by the highly renowned Shanghai silversmith / retailer Hung Chong. This quatrefoil box measuring 10.5 x 9 x 4.5 cm and weighing 198 g is decorated on the lid and sides with high-relief chrysanthemum flowers, buds and foliage, which are then hand chased and chiselled to bring out the most exquisite detail. The highly burnished high relief is set against a meticulously matted background to add even more depth and texture to the decoration. The piece is signed on the bottom in Chinese characters and the initials HC in a rectangle cartouche.
The work of Hung Chong is extensively recorded in "CHINESE EXPORT SILVER
1785-1940 THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTORS’ GUIDE RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY
ADRIEN VON FERSCHT"
Hung Chong & Co was a retail silversmith with it’s own manufactory or workshop and was owned by Fok Ying Chew. The retail store opened in 1892 after the manufactory began.
The following article appeared in a 1908 published travel journal of an Englishman and repeated verbatim:
“The Chinese are admittedly clever craftsmen and the silver-ware which they manufacture is very popular with collectors of Eastern curios and souvenirs by reason of its quaint beauty. Among the leading gold and silversmiths in Shanghai are Messrs. Hung Chong & Co., who deal largely also in blackwood furniture, embroideries, silk piece goods etc. Their premises at 11b Nanking Road always present a very attractive appearance. The business was established in 1892 by Mr Fok Ying Chew, who sold it in 1906 to the present
proprietor, Mr Sum Luen-sing."
中国银古董
古董
博物馆
文化
奢侈品
银器
历史