Page 969 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

ZEE WO [aka: SHI WO]
370 Honan Road, Shanghai
circa 1870-1930

An example of a variation mark for Zee Wo. The Chinese character mark verifies
the name Zee Wo despite the misleading transliterated name SEWO. Spelling
errors in Chinese silver marks are by no means unusual given most of the artisan
silversmiths did not understand English and might even have been illiterate in
Chinese. The ‘SE WO’ mark appears on the rather spectacular late 19th century
bowl [below right]

Zee Wo was a retail silversmith which had the ability and
flexibility to create good quality “commercial” items as
well as high quality wares alongside. From surviving
work, it is easy to identify certain decorative treatments
that were obviously synonymous with the Zee Wo name.

The more commercial items seemed to have developed at
a later stage. Honan Road, where Zee Wo was located, was
right in the commercial area of the International Settlement
in Shanghai alongside Nanking Road, Kiangse Road and
Hankow Road where all the high end retail shops were
located.