Page 349 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

this employment for three years, he obtained a post with the “Kang-yue” Line. He joined Hung Chong & Co. as
an assistant in 1892. He is married and has one son and daughter.”

The journal is, I believe, slightly misleading since there is evidence that Hung Chong was manufacturing silver
before the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 as several pieces are recorded with the Hung Chong mark in the form of a
pseudo-hallmark. If the journal account is true, then it would be reasonable to assume the retail shop opened in
1892, although even this seems late for a business that was so established by 1900.

This piece of original Hung Chong wrapping paper indicates it also dealt in carved ivory pieces and gold items
and alludes to the existence of a subsidiary or sister firm of rug importers.

A small circa 1890 scholar’s box, richly
decorated with a repoussé work
chrysanthemum decorative motif against a
finely planished ground .