Page 575 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

PAO CHENG [aka: PO CHENG; PC]
Hong Kong & Qīngdǎo [Tsingtau]
circa 1860-1947+

Tsingtau was the historic name of Qingdao - a coastal port in Shandong Province.

Between 1898-1914, Qingdao was a German concession and then came under Japanese occupation until 1922,
when it was returned to Chinese rule.

The makers’ marks bearing PC90 or PC STERLING and a Chinese character mark are usually the Hong Kong
mark

Pau Cheng is an interesting silversmith to research.
Firstly, the earlier work often includes Western
classical forms and truly can look as if they had never
been anywhere near a Chinese silversmith’s bench.
Secondly, the items made in Hong Kong and those
made in Tsingtao tend to differ in style, occasionally
greatly - so much so that some of Tsingtao items are
difficult to distinguish whether they are Japanese or
Chinese.
This circular box decorated with irises could easily be
mistaken for a Meiji piece. But then we see that
Tsingtao was at one time under Japanese occupation.
Whether this is a clue, more research needs to be
carried out, but high quality was something that was
always present in Pau Cheng pieces.