Page 320 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

This circa 1870 tea and coffee service with tray yet again demonstrates the Hoaching signature trait of covering
a piece with dense decorative motifs and great attention to detail, in particular the fastening of the looped
bamboo stem handles to the body of each item with a double dragon’s claw.

The dragon-handled tankard is almost ubiquitous to
Chinese Export Silver; it is more rare to find a
silversmith who did not produce them.
But this Hoaching example bucks most of the usual
trends inasmuch as it is classically straight-sided and
unusually divided into three horizontal friezes, each
having an entirely different treatment and subject
matter. For a relatively small item, Hoaching still
applied the same degree of decorative treatment and
of a consistently high quality.