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To my knowledge Chinese silver bowl, shaped and raised by hammering. I have been informed about the marks; 'Jin Ji' above the three stars and 'pure silver' below the three stars. Jin Ji could be of the maker or shop. I appreciate confirmation and all additional information; region and approximate date. Thanks in advance.
Stylistically, this looks very much like Straits silver.
The mark to the far left indicates silver standard (presumably 90% silver), the mark to the right is of course the chop mark of the maker, and it would seem the three stars are the logo of the retailer.
Away from my reference materials for a few days but will post more later if no one else provides more details.
Thanks for your reply and confirmation of the maker’s name Jinji. I truly appreciate your time and efforts. Herewith the requested information; the bowl is 6 cm / 2.34 inch high and 11.4 cm / 4.45 inch in diameter, the bowl’s weight; 118 grammes / 4.17 ounces.
Thank you for providing the dimensions and weight of the bowl.
After some searching I found a small fretwork censor with the same maker's mark 進記 and the "pure silver" mark 足銀, but with only one star mark, identical to those on the bowl. This censor also looks Straits or SE Asian.
To revise what I have earlier written, my theory (let me emphasize, theory) is that the star denotes the weight of the piece, specifically one tael (which as a measure of weight equals approximately 35-40 grams) per star. (For instance, Qing 10 taels silver coins actually weigh 350g, 360g, 380g, 395g, etc.) I have no information on the weight of the censor, but it would appear to be roughly 1/3 the weight of the bowl. If this hypothesis is correct, then the bowl would weigh 3 taels.
The weight in taels would have been helpful in trading. The tael was, of course, a common unit of silver, coinage, and trade throughout China and SE Asia until about 1900.
My hunch is that the bowl was made in the late 19th century either in southern China or in the Straits and was perhaps intended for trade in SE Asia. Hopefully someone else will shed more light on this.
Appreciate, you have done some excellent research and come up with a very interesting theory; one star represents the equivalent of one tael and my bowl certainly qualifies for three stars being three taels. It should be nice if we could get the weight of the censor (incense burner) and I imagine more Straits or SE Asian made silver items will carry one or more stars and perhaps more silver smiths use the star to indicate the weight of the item. But what could have been the reason they chose the five pointed star to symbolize a certain weight?
I believe we haven’t seen the last of the stars; more will pop up to shine for us.
