Page 372 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

K [MAKER KNOWN AS “GOTHIC K”]!
Canton!
circa 1830-1880!
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This mark has mystified scholars of Chinese Export Silver since research first began.!
The stamp mark of the Gothic K itself never varied over 50 years and it is my own belief that this mark probably
stands for “KWANGCHOW” - the accepted English transliteration of Guangzhou [Canton] in 1830. As yet, the
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person or persons behind the name is unknown and research is ongoing to decode this mystery.!
Chinese silver bearing the Gothic K mark immediately indicates the silver is from the first half of the 19th
century, but the range of items one might find with this mark is quite varied and at times surprising. Gothic K,
for example, created both Judaica items and Islamic silver items. Its Judaica seems to have been targeted to the
Sephardi or Mizrachi communities and not the Ashkenazi.!