Page 34 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

These findings are both interesting and not surprising given the collective history of what
was effectively raw silver coming into China over almost 500 years. Focussing on the
hollow ware, the varying silver purity of each manufacturing period loosely reflects the
reality of the source of silver entering China, while the average of 91.63 across the three
manufacturing indices brings a logic to another silver marking phenomenon of the late 19th
century and very early 20th century.

The Chinese retail silversmith Wang
Hing & Company is really the only
such retailer that regularly exported to
Great Britain - or perhaps it would be
more correct to say that a known
Glasgow retail silversmith regularly
imported silver wares from Wang
Hing & Company over a period of
approximately 40 years.

Edward & Sons in Glasgow was known to stock
items of Wang Hing silver that also carried the
Glasgow assay office hallmark. The Wang Hing
mark carrying a purity value of .96 [above] is
particularly interesting. This value only ever
appears on items sent to Edwards. More usual,
however, is the .95 value [right]. The overriding
norm for a Wang Hing silver mark with no
connection to any non-Chinese silversmith is .90.

The British assay system was set up in order to test the purity [assay] of precious metals.
Once an assay officer had successfully assayed an item [i.e. found the metallurgical
content was found to be equal or better than that claimed by the maker and it conforms to