Achieving the sale-high price of $8,237 was this late Eighteenth Century Chinese export parcel gilt silver filigree and enamel casket, Canton, circa 1780, 6½ inches long (£5/8,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
LONDON — Presenting 124 lots of Chinese export silver from the 20-year single-owner Gerard Collection, Chiswick Auctions closed its October 9 sale with 90 percent sold and a total realized of $174,383 (£133,270), which exceeded sale estimates. According to John Rogers, associate director and head of silver for Chiswick, “The collection was highly representative of the cross section of forms and decoration across the topic of Chinese export silver. Each of the great names, identified by their marks in Chinese, was represented in the collection by at least one piece.” Buyers in the sale were mostly private collectors hailing from around the world, though some dealers won as well, with Rogers mentioning a private UK collector with Chinese background, London and other UK dealers and a Chinese collector among those winning the top lots.
Earliest in date, though highest in price, the two top achieving lots in the sale were both Eighteenth Century filigree caskets. At $8,237 (£6,300) — the sale’s highest price — was a circa 1780 parcel-gilt silver filigree and enamel casket. The rectangular box, which was 6½ inches long, featured a key-locked beveled lid and the exterior was enameled with blue, green, yellow and purple floral details and other decorative motifs against a highly detailed filigree with various patterns. The Qing dynasty casket had two handles and a gilt interior. Also with gilt interior, the other casket, which brought $7,249 (£5,544), was slightly older — made circa 1750. This example was of shaped rectangular form and featured all-over diaper work, fish scale and foliate forms in filigree, creating the image of a central rosette and quatrefoil surrounded by scrolls on the lid. Both boxes were from Canton, though the makers were unknown; yet, according to the catalog, they resemble examples from the “highly important set owned by Catherine The Great (1726-96), which was acquired in Tibet between 1740 and 1750.”
This mid Eighteenth Century Chinese export parcel gilt silver filigree casket, Canton, circa 1750, 6 inches long, brought $7,249 (£4/6,000).
Following the sale, Rogers noted, “One of the makers whose works performed best in the sale were those of the workshop of Tai Chang Long. Previously, little has been published or identified as being by this workshop, but the quality of the cast and applied decoration with the out of the ordinary forms allowed these pieces to excel.”
Surpassing its estimates and becoming one of the most notable highlights in the sale was an early Twentieth Century spittoon or cuspidor bowl, detailed with peacocks among flowering plants and insects. The globular bowl had a flared rim and, on its underside, was marked in Chinese characters for maker Tai Chang Long and retailer Wang Hing. Made in Canton, circa 1920, the “spitting bowl” was bid past its £1,5/2,500 estimate to achieve $5,601 (£4,284). Rogers added that the Tai Chang Long “workshop produced a form of bowl modeled after the European spittoon, or in Portuguese a cuspidor. These cuspidor bowls are an interesting example of the referencing of European forms within Chinese silversmithing to produce wares for consumption by Western buyers.”
A Republic Period pedestal bowl made by Tai Chang Long circa 1920 was bid past its high estimate to achieve $4,942 (£3,780). This bowl’s pedestal foot was affixed with a screw and its body was cast with tableaus of various flowering plants, including chrysanthemums, irises, magnolias and peonies. Some of the tableaus also featured a heron among or beneath the flora.
This early Twentieth Century Chinese export silver pedestal bowl, Canton, circa 1920, marked for Tai Chang Long, retailed by Wang Hing, 7½ by 9¾ inches, earned $4,942 (£2/3,000).
Another category that performed well was cups. In a variety of forms and sizes, the “cups amply track the stylistic development of Chinese export silver from the mid Nineteenth Century. Beginning with the very end of the ‘China Trade’ period, which greatly imitated London-made silver, to the gradual inclusions of idiosyncratic elements of Chinese silver such as dragon head stems or dense figural Canton type work upon quintessentially Anglo forms, finally to an all over approach uniquely made by Chinese silversmiths around 1900,” according to Rogers.
The highest-earning cup in the sale was an 1886 standing cup with strap scroll handles by Quan Ji and retailed by Wang Hing. Intricately embossed, the cup was detailed with images of both a figural battle scene and a courtly scene. Making $4,942 (£3,780), the footed cup was engraved on its front shield cartouche “Moor 17 October 1886.”
Also notable was a 1905 standing cup from Canton and Shanghai. The gilt-interior cup was raised on a twisted bamboo-form stem and was cast with flowering prunus and birds. Made by An Chang for Luen Wo of Shanghai, the foot’s rim was engraved “Hankow Customs Club Billiard Handicap 1905 cup presented by F. G. Becke Esquire, won by A. F. Schepens.” It went out for $3288 (£2520).
This 1905 standing cup by An Chang for Luen Wo of Shanghai, Canton and Shanghai, 10½ inches high, went out for $3288 (£1,5/2,500).
“Another maker of note represented in the sale by four pieces is that of Ye Bo. This maker is known for some exceptional tea sets, and for almost exclusively supplying Wang Hing and Luen Wo,” shared Rogers. The greatest success for a Ye Bo piece in this sale was that of a circa 1900 ewer. The Qing dynasty vessel was of baluster form on a spreading circular foot. Its handle was in the form of a prunus branch, matching its affixed finial and cast details. Other motifs included “iris flowers attended to by 10 storks, some fishing for eels, in the background buildings against a rocky outcrop, all against a textured ground,” as described in the catalog. This late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century ewer topped off at $3,789 (£2,898).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Chiswick will auction Asian art on November 5-6. For information, www.chiswickauctions.co.uk.
