Page 167 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

This 5-piece set silver gilt Chinese Export Silver set is carries the Canton
silver marks of “C” [the tea pot has a circular stand, making the 5th
piece].

This is considered one of the most enigmatic complete sets of Chinese
Export Silver ever created, not only because of its obvious high quality
and extraordinary level of craftsmanship, but because there are intricate
features of this set which take their inspiration from a slightly earlier 1805
hot water jug and lamp stand by the English master silversmith Paul Storr.

Given the set was created probably circa 1820 in Canton, to incorporate
highly complex components from a piece of English silver that was
created especially for Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury
[1755-1826], 1st Viscount Canterbury is quite extraordinary. There is no
credible reason for the Paul Storr item to have been taken to Canton to be
copied and as far as is known, no painting of the item was ever made. The
only credible possibility is that detailed drawings may have been made by
Paul Storr and these may have been taken to Canton for a Chinese
silversmith to work from.

The wooden handle of the tea pot in the Canton set emanates from a neo-
classical female head that terminates in a cornucopia [detailed left]; the
Paul Storr piece has exactly the same detailing. Both also incorporate
basket weave and running leaf borders.

One can assume that the Canton set was originally a bespoke order and
since the set has additional French “swan” import marks. The French
Chateau de Maulny at St Soupplets is the first documented provenance for
the set but since the swan mark was only introduced in 1864, this cannot
be the first destination of the set.

The Paul Storr piece became part of the John Pierpont Morgan Collection
and was sold at Sotheby’s in 2010. The Canton set was sold at Sotheby’s, New York in 2009, having appeared in
the Chinese Export Silver exhibition held at John Sparks Ltd in London in 1990 and catalogued by A. J. Marlowe.