Page 124 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

However, the mushrooming of so-called silversmiths taking advantage of the foreign
buyers infiltrating the previously out of bounds streets created a different dynamic. A period
began where we see names such as Wang Hing & Company appearing. These
establishments were retail showrooms that were supplied by separate workshops
populated by artisan silversmiths. A house name such as Wang Hing would develop a
style and a level of quality that was synonymous with that house, the quality control being
exercised strictly by the retail owner. In certain instances, some of the workshops were
also owned exclusively by the house, others were either independent or may have been
family relatives of the house proprietor. A few workshops were actually owned by Hong
merchants or partnerships of Hong and foreign merchants - a way for the Hong merchants
to be compensated for not receiving commission payment on transactions. It was not
uncommon for workshops to rent bench space to itinerant artisan silversmiths. The artisan
silversmiths stamped their own chopmark on pieces they were responsible for and it was
not an uncommon sight for the same artisan and chopmark to appear on pieces under
different house names, indicating that some artisans worked benches in several
workshops for different houses. The artisans were all master silversmiths as the West
would recognise, working incredibly hard and being paid relatively low for highly skilled
work. This was the accepted system.

New China Street, Canton - 1890

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