Page 707 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

A highly unusual sauce boat [below] - a strange and somewhat eclectic fusion of traditional Chinese, decorative
elements introduce to a neo-classical form and then placed upon Art-Deco influenced legs; the whole created
from extremely heavy gauge silver - superb in its own eccentric way. Yet if one looks carefully at individual
elements, they can be found on the turtle-form pounces [sanders] that Tai Shan was to specialise in. The
traditional meander border features on both and the shape of this sauce boat has an uncanny resemblance to
the underside of the turtle pounces.

The sauce boat and tray [above] is equally as superb in terms of quality
and was probably made originally for the French market; the French
legation was in the intentional compound - the style of this piece is
more French and certainly not English or American oriented.

A circa 1920 cocktail shaker with the Tai Shan, Beijing silver mark. Not
only is this shaker exquisitely decorated with a chrysanthemum motif,
but it is actually highly unusual for a Beijing silversmith to have a mark
on a cocktail shaker.

The fashion for cocktails in China was confined mainly to Shanghai and
Hong Kong and marginally in Nanjing, so it is rare to find a Beijing
silversmith creating such an item, albeit the decorative style of this
shaker also sets it apart.