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Hi guys i'm new to this forum and was wondering if you guys can help me identify this cup. I've been told that the style is Ming dynasty cause of the dragon's nose is similar to a humans nose and this style was used only in the Ming Dynasty to early Qing Dynasty. The style of work is called punchworked as far as I can tell, the inside of the cup is also punchworked. I've got it tested and it came out as silver.

Why isn't there any hallmarks? Or any marking indicating its age or that its silver?
When's it made?
Who made it?


Thanks guys,
Simon

There has already been some discussion on this Forum of the dragon motif in Chinese and Japanese art. Even if this style of dragon was introduced in the Ming Dynasty, that only tells us that the cup is no older than Ming, but it could be Qing, or even later. Ming designs are perpetually in fashion, reproduced down to the present day.

In the Ming Dynasty, Chinese merchants had already established thriving trade routes throughout Asia. Local artists in Japan, Korea, and in Southeast Asia were quick to copy Chinese designs, albeit often in slightly modified forms.

To me, the cup looks like it dates from the second half of the 19th century, and probably was not made in China. Were it Ming or early Qing, I would expect the engraving to be much finer. It seems very unlikely that a Chinese artist of that time would render the all-important dragon with the top of its head chopped off by a decorative border. Please bear in mind that this is only one opinion based on photographs.

Regarding the lack of marks, first, although many people commonly call all marks on any silver-colored metal, even on silverplate, “hallmarks,” it is important to understand that purity marks, makers’ marks, pseudo marks, hallmarks, and duty marks are all distinctly different things. The Glossary on this website has excellent information explaining this. That said, unless the PRC has instituted some official form of hallmarking in recent years, I believe that China has never had an official hallmarking system. Second, in understanding and appreciating Asian silver, it would be better not to start from the assumption that marking was the norm or even a guarantee of superior quality (although this was certainly true of Chinese porcelain, which did indeed have an official system of marking that was legislated and enforced from time to time). Instead, start by investigating how the institution of hallmarking arose in different times and places, in particular in Europe, and it will become apparent that in Asia, no such exigencies confronted the consumers and potentates of the past.

If this cup is a one-off or perhaps one of a pair, then it isn’t marked because transactions in its original marketplace were unencumbered by either the custom or the need for marking silver products. Another possibility is that it was part of a set and that the larger pieces (a teapot, for instance) were marked, or that the entire set was housed in a custom-made box that had all of the details of the set written on its lid.

Others may have a very different opinion of the cup, its age, and it origin.

Regards
DR