www.925-1000.com

It is worth mentioning that "Sheng Yuan" is a phonetic translation of "聲元" but not really its name.

FTJJ

The Chinese characters are "聲元 Sheng Yuan" "足紋 pure silver". Sheng Yuan is name of a silver workshop who operated in Beijing during early to mid 20th century.

Hope this helps.

Best,
FTJJ

The new photos are very useful. The top characters are much more visible now and they appear to me "濟南" Jinan, a city in Shangdong province. This makes sense as the top characters are traditionally the location of the silversmith. And in this case, it is more likely a Qing Yun located in J...

Just came across this thread. Agree with David that this vase is Chinese. The engraved inscription on the first photo shows the names of the donors, nine of them together, and at the bottom "敬贈" meaning presenting with respect. As for the mark, while the top characters were partly rubbed o...

Thanks David.

I am afraid I cannot make anything out of the last symbol as it was partly cut off.

By the way, there was also Wu Hua 物華 in Peking (Beijing) who served the foreign communities there including the British Embassy — as can be seen from an inscription I came across.

Cheers,

FTJJ

The first character is 原, name of the branch.

Followed by 裘天寶 (Qiu Tian Bao) who was one of the nine most reputable jewelry dealers in Shanghai.

The last character 德 is possibly name of the silversmith.

Hope this helps.

FTJJ

As David had identified, the first two characters are 天津 (Tientsin). The characters that follow are 物華 (Wu Hua), who was regarded as one of the three most reputable gold and silver jewelry dealers in Tientsin (nowadays Tianjin). The last character is 厚, name of the silversmith. The two characters on...

I had seen a Chinese silver bowl stamped with CK mark. The bowl is decorated with scenes depicting the 1911 anti-gambling campaign in Canton Province. This may imply that silversmith CK practiced in Canton around period of the campaign.

The north mark seems to me 浙省，possibly referring to 浙江省 (Zhejiang province). Just a thought!
I agree with David on his interpretations on the other marks.

The mark is very possibly “ 璉璋 ”, which is very often seen with its English name “ LAIN CHANG ”.

According to Chinese Export Silver — The Chan Collection, it was a dealer in Shanghai dating back to early 20th century.

Hope it helps.

FTJJ

Hi Penelope,

On Forbes “WA” is described as “after 1840”

On Chait , “whose work is rarely met with” & dating “Late China Trade Period” (1840-1885)

As far as I know, very little information has been released on this retailer.

Hope this helps!

FTJJ

Hi Penelope, I don’t have further information on “WA” at hand except it is indicated as a rare mark. Used copies of “The Chan Collection” appear on eBay from time to time. “The Chait Collection of Chinese Export Silver” as well as “Chinese Export Silver 1785-1885 - Forbes, Kernan, Wilkins” are also ...

“WA” is a retailer mark. According to “Chinese Export Silver - The Chan Collection” , it was located in Canton back in the second and third quarter 19th century. “90” was an attempt to indicate 90% silver content. The ideogram mark on the left is the maker’s mark although the characters seem illegib...

It is indeed a Chinese character mark. The characters stand for : “Shanghai Fang-Jiu-Xia Run-Ji”, and in Chinese “上海 方九霞 潤記 ” Fang-Jiu-Xia is one of the nine famous silver workshops in Shanghai. The last two characters at the very bottom of the mark is the name of one of its sub-branches, Run-Ji, wh...