A LARGE SILVER ‘DRAGON’ RETICULATED PUNCH BOWL, MARKS OF SUI CHANG AND WANG HING

Expert’s note:
During the 19th and early 20th century, entertaining in Europe and America became a fashionable and prestigious habit amongst the society elites. Chinese export porcelains and silver articles played a significant role in these events as they showcased the owner's level of wealth, refined taste, and culture.

China, late 19th to early 20th century. The circular body richly cast, embossed and chased with dragons writhing between a pierced ground of swirling clouds around a flaming pearl cartouche, raised on three dragon supports.


Inscriptions
: Stamped ‘Sui Chang’, ‘WH’ (mark of Wang Hing & Co), and ‘90’ (for 90% silver purity).


Provenance
: Chicago trade.

Condition
: Superb condition with minor old wear and manufacturing irregularities. Light scratches and occasional minuscule losses and dents. The glass liner with light scratches and manufacturing irregularities as well.

Weight: 4,376 g (incl. glass liner) and 2,379 g (excl. glass liner)
Dimensions: Diameter 33 cm

With a matching glass bowl to the inside. (2)


Probably the greatest and finest Chinese Export retailer
of the period, Wang Hing started trading in Canton soon after 1842 when, with the end of the First Opium War and the treaty of Nanking, China opened its ports to foreign merchants and Hong Kong became a British colony.


Wang Hing was the trading name chosen by the Lo family
who established the business and passed it down for generations until 1941. Although little is known about the founder of the company, we know that the Lo’s were a wealthy merchant family living in one of the richest areas of Canton, the district of Xiguan.


Thanks to the fine quality of the pieces
and to the entrepreneurial abilities of the family members, the reputation of the firm grew. In the 1920’s Lo Hung Tong, grandson of the founder, opened a store on Queen’s Road, Hong Kong and another in Shanghai.


Literature comparison:

For further information on Wang Hing, see David Chan, Chinese Export Silver: The Chan Collection, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore, 2005. See a related silver dragon punch bowl, retailed by Hung Chong & Co., Shanghai, with Koopman Rare Art, London, illustrated in Roland Arkell, “Silver Linings”, Antiques Trade Gazette, October 2019.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 12 May 2015, lot 158
Price: GBP 15,000 or approx.
EUR 25,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Chinese export silver bowl, Wang Hing, Canton and Hong Kong, late 19th/early 20th Century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, cast and chased decoration on a pierced ground, and dragon motif. Note the smaller size (28.4 cm).




大型鏤空龍紋三足銀碗，“遂昌“與”宏興“款

中國，十九世紀末至二十世紀初。 碗身滿工鏤空鑄造，浮雕和雕刻龍紋，飛龍騰雲；三龍托碗。


款識：
遂昌；宏興；90


來源：
芝加哥古玩交易。

品相：
狀況極佳，有輕微磨損和製造缺陷，輕微劃痕和微小缺損和凹痕。玻璃內襯有輕微劃痕且製造不規則。

重量：4,376 克 (含玻璃碗) ，2,379 克 (不含玻璃碗)
尺寸：直徑33 厘米

内部配置玻璃碗。 (2)


文獻比較：

更多關於宏興公司介紹，見David Chan，《Chinese Export Silver: The Chan Collection》，新加坡亞洲文明博物館，2005年。一件相近銀製龍紋碗 ，鴻昌公司出品，上海，見Roland Arkell，《Silver Linings》，《Antiques Trade Gazette》，倫敦，2019年10月。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：倫敦蘇富比，2015年5月12日，lot 158
價格：GBP 15,000（相當於今日
EUR 25,500
）
描述：十九世紀末和二十世紀初鴻昌款銀製碗
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形，在穿孔的底部鑄造和雕刻裝飾，以及龍紋主題。請注意尺寸較小(28.4厘米)。