Page 348 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht
P. 348
HUNG CHONG & CO [aka: HOONG CHEONG]
11b Nanking Road, ShangHai
circa 1830-1925
One of the earliest marks for Hung Chong
using the pseudo-hallmark format [right]
An interesting version of the Hung Chong mark - mis-spelled!
Hung Chong & Co was a retail silversmith with it’s own manufactory or workshop and was owned by Fok Ying
Chew. The retail store opened in 1892 after the manufactory began.
The following article appeared in a 1908 published travel journal of an Englishman and repeated verbatim:
“The Chinese are admittedly clever craftsmen and the silver-ware which they manufacture is very popular with
collectors of Eastern curios and souvenirs by reason of its quaint beauty. Among the leading gold and
silversmiths in Shanghai are Messrs. Hung Chong & Co., who deal largely also in blackwood furniture,
embroideries, silk piece goods etc. Their premises at 11b Nanking Road always present a very attractive
appearance. The business was established in 1892 by Mr Fok Ying Chew, who sold it in 1906 to the present
proprietor, Mr Sum Luen-sing. The large trade carried ion necessitates the employment of fourteen assistants
and forty-workmen. Mr Sum Luen-sing is the son of Mr Sum Cheuk Sing and was born in Macao in 1871. He
studied English in Shanghai and at the age of sixteen joined the “Limpu” Line of steamers. After remaining in
