Page 230 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

What is unusual about the goblets is the creative ability to adapt the ubiquitous bamboo stems and foliage that
would normally have been used as decorative motif and the support for the goblet stems to the thistle plant. It is
particularly interesting to see how the silversmith has retained the traditional allegorical motif of the trunk [or in
the case the thistle stem] emerging from a rocky mound; the allegorical symbolism being “steadfastness” had
the thistle been a bamboo stem.

The Cutshing tea set [above] could easily be an English Regency item of silver, with its acanthus
embellishments and half fluting. It is a masterpiece and deserved its well-earned sixteen year stay at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Cutshing was also renowned for its fans; the silver and silver gilt filigree brisé fan with enamelwork
embellishments is of a quality that would rival the finest Duvelleroy French fans of the late 18th and early 19th
centuries.