www.925-1000.com

Another little teaser, at least for me. Can anyone identify this Chinese Export maker? It looks like KIIC, but I can't find any reference to it. The nearest I can find is on this site and is KHC for Khecheong. However there are differences:

1) The horizontal stroke appears to be missing on the 'H', though arguably there are remnants on the legs to show there may have been. I don't think it's hidden by dirt and I don't understand why it would have been removed

2) The 'C' isn't the same shape, though I'm sure different punches were used at different times

3) It's possible that it may have overstruck the original maker's mark; there certainly seems to be another mark below. In which case, I suppose it could be a retailer's mark if the Chinese employed this practice.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you.

Khecheong seems to be the most likely candidate, and the mark does indeed appear to have been struck twice.

The variance in the marks of one retailer can be explained by the existence of several masters filling orders over a period of decades.

Furthermore, a Chinese silver master might have no more understanding of the difference between II and H or C and G than a Westerner would of the subtle but all-important difference of a single stroke or a single dot in two otherwise identical Chinese characters.

Regards

DR

As the mark appears to be in cameo, perhaps it was simply the case of piece of debris blocking the recess in the punch, a common error when the punch face is not checked before use.

Trev.

Thanks to you both for your responses, both of which argue strongly towards it being a double-struck Khecheong mark. I think debris is a really good explanation for those tiny indications of a horizontal stroke, one that I had never even considered before!