Page 396 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

probably only matched by Sun Shing. Later work produced some of the most monumental pieces in the whole
Chinese Export Silver repertoire.

Khe Cheong was one of the few Canton retailers who also produced some of the finest Chinese gold items
under the Khe Cheong mark.

Filigree silver items were also part of the regular Khe Cheong inventory, in particular silver filigree card cases
that cleverly fused the 18th/19th century European concept of a card case with traditional Chinese silver work
and decorative motifs; China having had a centuries old tradition in the art of silver filigree.

This is an original lacquered papier maché lid
that was used for packaging silver filigree card
cases by Khe Cheong circa 1850. The card case
that belonged to this is below and the calibre of
the intricate silver work is obvious; it is also a
consistent quality Khe Cheong maintained.

Given silver filigree work is a very particular art
that few silversmiths are capable of, the artisans
responsible for producing cases such as this
would have been both in demand and likely to
have been scarce. Few 19th century Chinese
silver card cases carry a silver mark but those
that do predominantly carry the mark ‘YKC’ on
the high quality examples.

My research to date indicates it is probable
that the YKC and the KHC marks are
linked. That research will shortly be
entering a more intensive phase with the
intention of verifying whether the YKC link
with Khe Cheong is correct.