Page 766 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht
P. 766
Conversely, just twenty years earlier Tuck Chang was commissioning silver tea sets fusing the high Victorian
style with the high Chinese style [below].
As with their counterpart Wang Hing & Co, Tuck
Chang commissioned a whole plethora of small
high quality gift items.
Heart-shaped objects are surprisingly not that
common in the Chinese Export Silver repertoire,
more often than not confined to items such as pin
cushions and the occasional pill box. This trinket
box is a wonderful example of late 19th century
Shanghai workmanship, the flowering irises are
somewhat of a surprise since they are considered
far more poignant to Japanese symbolism than
Chinese - although the combination of iris and
orchid symbolise close friendship in Chinese
symbolism.
The working of the flower heads and setting them
against a planished ground is superb.
