Page 67 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

the artisan makers became an anonymity, which is actually a sad fact given some of the
finest silver was produced in China during this time. This applied to almost all Canton
marks; it being the sole centre for the China Trade that foreign merchants were allowed to
operate. It is quite lamentable that for such an extended period is is virtually impossible to
ever know the identity of the artisan responsible for an individual piece of silver.

Above, a version of the maker’s mark for WE WE WC and below is the true London
hallmark for the William Eley, William Fearn and William Chawner.

Of the known silversmiths of this early manufacturing period, one of the silversmiths who
has “celebrity” status we simply know as “WE WE WC.” The meaning of the initials on this
mark has never been discovered, assuming the initials actually do stand for something.
WE WE WC operated in Canton between 1820 and 1880. From the marks that are to be
found on silver items it is clear that consistency was again not part of the game plan and
there is no way of telling whether this was a workshop, a retail silversmith or even an
umbrella mark that was used for silver for a specific merchant or destination made by a
workshop we know by another name. The particular peculiarity of this silver bearing this
mark is it almost certainly began when copying a silver piece or pieces from the London-
based silversmiths William Eley, William Fearn and William Chawner. Perhaps the “F” for
Fearn was simply [or purposely] mistaken for an “E”. British and American merchants, sea
captains and even crew members are known to have brought silver to Canton for the very
purpose of copying; for crew members it became a lucrative sideline while they were
forced to wait months at Macau for the trade winds to change for their return voyage.

The mark has to retain some of its enigmatic charm for now, but given silver carrying this
mark was generally of the highest quality and almost always in the neo-classical style, not
knowing the identity is frustrating.

CHINESE CHARACTER MARKS.

What we sometimes refer to as a “chop mark” is actually a form of seal that originated in
China for official documents as a means of signature. When silver trade dollars came into
usage, Chinese merchants stamped the dollar coins with their “chop mark” to attest to its