Page 971 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

The tea set [below] is typical of mid-1920’s Zee Wo’s more commercial type of merchandise. Pared down but still
good quality and still retaining attention to detailing that makes this set stand out from the crowd of the
numerous similar tea sets from other silversmiths.

While the tea set and accompanying kettle and stand [below] made some 20 years prior to the set above
demonstrates how the style evolved at Zee Wo. Both are good quality but circa
1900 Shanghai had a different social mix and Shanghai hadn’t yet developed
into the “Paris of the East”, so what was considered commercial then was
very different to the mid-1920’s. The inclusion of tailor-made carrying boxes
is interesting - perhaps the view was that many foreign residents were in
Shanghai for short limited periods and the silver would go wherever they
next went.