www.925-1000.com

Hi,

Chinese card case with 2 Chinese characters, looking for maker’s name. I welcome all information .Thanks in advance.
















Oel

Hi Oel,

The maker appears to be 全聚 "Quanju," literally "fireside" or "hearth." I have been unable to confirm this or find other work by this maker, so hopefully someone else will have a better idea or know more.

The second mark appears to be a heavily rubbed 足銀 ("fine silver") mark.

As you know, of course, a retailer's mark would reveal much more about the piece.

Best regards,

David R

Hello David,

Thank you very much for translating and explaining the Chinese characters and the thought behind it.

Best wishes,

Oel

Yes, it's 全聚, I knew nothing more about it, maybe a silversmith in the last half of 19c.

It's hard to tell the other mark is 足銀 or 足紋.

Hi Rauls, I appreciate your input please help me out; if 足銀 means "fine silver" what does 足紋 mean? Thanks very much for your assistance.

Best wishes,

Oel

oel wrote: Hi Rauls, I appreciate your input please help me out; if 足銀 means "fine silver" what does 足紋 mean? Thanks very much for your assistance.

Hello Oel, these two words are the same. In China, people called high-grade silver as '紋銀' and low-grade silver as '潮銀' until about 1950s. For silver firms based on different area (or silversmith came from different area), they used some different marks for "fine silver", such as:

足銀 - (has) sufficient silver (in the item)

紋銀 - (made with) high-grade silver

足紋銀 - (has) sufficient high-grade silver (in the item)

保足銀 - it's guaranteed that the item has sufficient silver

As you can see, there are some slight differences in the words, but actually the same in the meanings.

Rauls

Hello Rauls,

Thanks for the excellent explanation.

Best,

Oel