Page 253 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

DE TIAN LI
Peking [Beijing]
circa 1900-1940

Beijing was the historic home of Chinese enamelwork and
cloisonné wares, many of the best experts worked in the
Imperial workshops within the Forbidden City. When most of
these workshops were dismantled as the Qing Dynasty
began to struggle, many of the individual Imperial workshops
moved out and began their own production - their aim was to
cater for the already burgeoning affluent middle class
Chinese in cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Canton,
obviously Hong Kong and also the West.
Although research has not yet revealed the former history of
the De Tian Li operation, it is still not known if this was a
retail silversmith, a workshop or both.

The interesting thing with this particular vase is the mark
tells us that the artisan silversmith is Qi Bao. This probably
indicates that De Tian Li could well have been a retail
silversmith. The mark also tells us the names of the two
enamel artists who worked the piece - Mei Shu and Fa Lang.

The vivid colours, the actual enamel technique and the clean
lines of the object itself are typical of the early both century
wares that came out of Beijing, possibly an expression of
freedom from the rigid requirements of the Imperial
workshops.

Images courtesy of S&J Stodel, London

http://chinese-export-silver.com
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