Hallmarks · By country
Chinese hallmarks
Chinese export silver of 1850 to 1940 carries marks designed to look British, which is the single most common misidentification in the whole field.
- Marking since
- nineteenth century
- Gives a year
- No
How the system works
Export silver made for Western buyers carries a retailer's mark in Roman letters, often with pseudo-hallmarks imitating British punches, together with a Chinese character maker's mark. Fineness is frequently marked 90, meaning 900, and is often higher than sterling in practice.
The standards
| Figure or mark | Fineness and use |
|---|---|
| 90 | 900 silver, the usual export standard. |
| Pseudo-hallmarks | Imitations of British punches, used on export work. |
Dating a chinese piece
By retailer and by style. The great export houses of Canton, Shanghai and Hong Kong are documented, and their marks give reliable date ranges.
Where the marks will not give you a year, date the piece from its construction instead: the catch, the metal, the setting and the cut of the stones. That method is set out in how to date antique jewelry.
Where people go wrong
- Pseudo-hallmarks on Chinese export silver look convincingly like a lion passant or a leopard's head at a glance. Look for the accompanying Chinese character mark.
- Chinese export silver is frequently finer than sterling despite carrying no official guarantee.
- Modern Chinese-made silver marked 925 for the export market is a different thing entirely and is not collectable in the same way.
Other countries
United Kingdom · Ireland · France · Germany · Denmark · Sweden · Norway · Finland · Netherlands · Russia and the Soviet Union · Austria and Hungary · Italy · Switzerland · United States · Mexico · Portugal · Spain · India · Japan · Turkey and the Ottoman Empire · International marks