HELP with Identification Of Chinese Silver Marks on Teapots
HELP with Identification Of Chinese Silver Marks on Teapots
I found these at a recent estate sale, and am looking for any information on the marks found on the bottom of the small teapot. All 3 appear to have been made using the same enamels, but the bottoms of the other two tall pots are not marked, or were rubbed out.
Re: HELP with Identification Of Chinese Silver Marks on Teap
1) It appears for me that the two handled higher pots are wine pots, another one should be a double-loop-handled teapot which is rarely to see now. For the two wine pots, I couldn't ensure they are made in solid silver instead of silverplated or cupronickel without testing.
2) The 4 enameled characters on the body of the teapot is 富贵长寿 in a traditional Chinese typeface which means "rich and long life".
3) The '麗華' mark on the bottom and another mark covered by it (looks X興 or X奧) is an unknown retailer for me, '仕'might be a mark belonged to the silversmith or journeyman.
4) The phrase "内潮包换" isn't very easy to be understood: "内" means 'interior' or 'contained', and "包换" means "guaranteed to be replaced", the problem is on the character '潮' which generally means 'moist'. However, when it used with silver, it can be explained as "low purity" (before 1950s, folks in China used word "紋銀" for pure silver and word "潮銀" for low fineness silver). So if I understand correctly, the phrase means "if the silver contained in the piece isn't enough, the piece is guaranteed to be replaced by the retailer or silversmith". So it sounds this teapot is solid silver.
2) The 4 enameled characters on the body of the teapot is 富贵长寿 in a traditional Chinese typeface which means "rich and long life".
3) The '麗華' mark on the bottom and another mark covered by it (looks X興 or X奧) is an unknown retailer for me, '仕'might be a mark belonged to the silversmith or journeyman.
4) The phrase "内潮包换" isn't very easy to be understood: "内" means 'interior' or 'contained', and "包换" means "guaranteed to be replaced", the problem is on the character '潮' which generally means 'moist'. However, when it used with silver, it can be explained as "low purity" (before 1950s, folks in China used word "紋銀" for pure silver and word "潮銀" for low fineness silver). So if I understand correctly, the phrase means "if the silver contained in the piece isn't enough, the piece is guaranteed to be replaced by the retailer or silversmith". So it sounds this teapot is solid silver.