Chinese Dragon/Rooster Bracelet

[Silver_Schnauzer]

Does anyone have info on this bracelet I purchased? I can't seem to find any info on it anywhere.
There is a dragon and rooster carved along the sides with two Chinese characters in the middle.
On the back there is one hallmark of Chinese characters, and two separate star hallmarks.
The acid test is positive for sterling.

http://s1324.beta.photobucket.com/user/Silver_Schnauzer/library/Chinese%20Silver%20Bracelet

[davidross]

Welcome to the forum.

The hallmark looks like 足銀　(Chinese silver standard, usually 90% or above, much discussed in other threads here).

The significance of star marks on Asian silver has come up in another thread, but is still unknown, see:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30368

It would be interesting to know the weight of the bracelet to see if it also reflects a weight in taels, or if these stars represented a trade value, or perhaps a retailer's mark.

The motif is dragon and phoenix and from the photos appears stamped rather than handcarved. A maker's mark would seem to be called for if the piece were handcarved. The two characters on the front are 吉祥 (jixiang), "lucky," "auspicious," "good fortune."

To hazard a guess, the origin may be Straits rather than China, or perhaps made in China for the SE Asian market, dating to the early 20th century, perhaps 1910-30.

Regards,
David R

[Silver_Schnauzer]

Wow, thanks for all of the info. The bracelet only weights 26.2 grams, so I'm not sure why it would have 2 stars on it.
And sorry my Asian geography is a little rusty. When you say "Straight" are you referring to the Taiwan Strait? So it might be from Taiwan or China?

[davidross]

The Straits of Malacca separating today's Malaysia and Indonesia.

Generally, straits silver was made in the 19th and early 20th centuries by Chinese who had immigrated to the Straits Settlements (today's Malaysia and Singapore).

More so on the bowl in the earlier thread than on the bracelet, the star marks bear some resemblance to the lotus marks found on some 19th century Siamese (Thai) silver. The stars remain an unsolved mystery; hopefully someone who knows their significance will eventually post here.

Cheers
DR

[rauls]

It looks a newly made (after 1980) or imitated one for me.

Old bracelets, hairpins etc. are far more popular than other kind of antique silver items in current Chinese market, as a result a lot of imitated items or even fakes were made in passed 10 to 15 years.

[Silver_Schnauzer]

I believe the lady I got it from got it from an old woman's estate some years ago. She said the woman was quite old around 80 when she passed away.

[Silver_Schnauzer]

Aren't the more recent imitations made of silver plate? I acid tested this for blood red.

[Silver_Schnauzer]

The bracelet is about 9 inches around.

[davidross]

I would defer to Rauls' assessment on the date of this piece. My area is primarily Japan and only peripherally China.

Of course, it is difficult to make any definitive determination from photos, but even from those provided the piece is (as mentioned above) machine-stamped rather than hand-engraved, which would suggest fairly modern manufacture.

Regards,
DR