Page 719 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

TIAN BAO
Beijing
circa 1860-1940

As with many Beijing silversmiths,
Tian Bao specialised in silver and
enamel combination work and
cloisonné, Beijing being the
traditional home of Chinese enamel
work.

It is unclear whether Tian Bao was
a manufacturing silversmith, a
retail silversmith or both, but there
is certainly evidence the Tian Bao
operation was built upon a long
standing silver making tradition
t h a t w a s p r o b a b l y f a m i l y
generational
During the last years of the decline
of the Qing Dynasty, it became
increasingly clear that drastic
economies and changes had to be
made to the unwieldy
establishment behind the Imperial
throne. Many of the Imperial
workshops in the Forbidden City
were disbanded and this caused
some of the master enamelers and
m e t a l w o r k e r s t o s e t u p
independent workshops, of which
Tian Bao was one. It also required a
much more “commercial” offering
to be devised in order for these
new workshops to survive and
prosper.

This circa 1910 tall bud vase with
enamel-on-silver “ears” is quite
typical of how Tian Bao achieved
t h e n e c e s s a r y d e g r e e o f
commerciality.