A rare Chinese Export silver tablefork, in the Fiddle pattern, with excellent hallmarks, they could not be better. The hallmarks include pseudo sterling lion, pseudo crowned leopard's head, makers mark "YS" and pseudo Georgian duty mark. Yatshing silver is always "of a high standard" (www.chineseexportsilver.com), this fork is no exception.

A Chinese Export (or China Trade silver) silver tablespoon, with excellent pseudo hallmarks. The spoon is Fiddle pattern, and has an attractive and well engraved family crest, a Lion's head erased, which is contemporary. The hallmarks include pseudo sterling lion, pseudo crowned leopard's head, date letter "C', and pseudo Georgian duty mark. We have tentatively ascribed these marks to Cutshing, we would welcome other opinions. These marks are typical of the pseudo English marks deliberately created by Chinese silversmiths, for the export market. Cutshing are "widely recognised as producing some of the finest silver from the early China Trade period (1785-1840)" - www.chinese-export-silver.com, article on Cutshing.

A Chinese Export (or China Trade silver) tablefork, in the Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern, with scarce Union shell (Pickford, Silver Flatware, pg 118). This is a large and hefty fork of good gauge and quality. The hallmarks are extremely clear, being pseudo - English hallmarks lion passant, dutymark, crowned leopards head, date letter k and makers mark CU for Cutshing of Old China Street, Canton. Cutshing was quite prolific, he used a number of makers marks, including CUT, and worked between 1825 and 1875. CU was used during his earlier period (www.chineseexportsilver.com). Chinese export silver, which is stylistically Anglo-American of the late Georgian period, is "known for its fine workmanship and exceptionally heavy weight (Kernan, China Trade Silver, Checklists for Collectors, November 1965).

A Chinese export silver dessert spoon in the Fiddle pattern. The pseudo-English hallmarks are in excellent condition, well struck and very clear. They include lion passant with triangular indent to punch, crowned leopards head, duty mark and makers mark L. Linchong was an early maker of Chinese export silver, his silver is usually in the English Georgian style. He worked from New China Street, Canton. Linchong is described as the "unsung Cantonese master Georgian silversmith, who rivals Paul Storr in work quality, whose silver is very rare" - www.chinese-export-silver.com

A Chinese export silver tablespoon by Sunshing, with excellent hallmarks, they could not be better. The hallmarks include makers mark SS, both of the S's are very distinctive with a t junction at the end of the letter. Hallmarks also include English pseudo marks including lion passant (with fringes on the head), crowned leopard's head townmark, date letter C and duty mark.

A highly unusual Chinese Export silver tablespoon in the Fiddle pattern, complete with "pseudo English" hallmarks, used by Linchong of Canton, alongside Indian Colonial silver hallmarks, used by R.S. of Calcutta. The hallmarks are clear, and include the pseudo lion passant, crowned leopards head, date letter L and duty mark as used by Linchong of Canton, who made silver in the Georgian style. The Indian Colonial marks include makers mark RS (unidentified) and a tallymark (No. 18, Indian Colonial Silver, Wilkinson), the tallymark is thought to identify the journeyman who completed the piece. One possible scenario is that the spoon was produced in Canton, and imported into Calcutta, India by RS, who was possibly a retailer only. We would be interested in hearing other opinions on this unusual spoon. This very spoon and it's hallmarks is depicted in the book "Indian Colonial Silver" by Wynyard Wilkinson, page 116, where the author noted the lack of connection of the marks, but did not identify the maker Linchong...

A Chinese export silver dessert spoon and fork, in the Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern. This pair is exceptionally good gauge, this is probably the heaviest dessert spoon and fork we have ever encountered, over 80 grams each, in fact heavier than many tablespoons and forks. They are typical of the good quality, early Chinese export silver that imitated the plain English Georgian silver styles. The hallmarks are clear on both, and include "pseudo English" crowned leopards head, duty mark and lion passant, along with makers mark CC. The lion hallmark punch is quite distinctive, the right hand edge merges with the back leg of the lion. CC is an unidentified silversmith who worked from Canton between 1800 and 1850, generally producing good quality silver.

A rare pair of Chinese Export silver Fiddle pattern tablespoons, with a good set of pseudo-English hallmarks. The hallmarks include pseudo sterling lion, pseudo crowned leopard's head, makers mark YS and pseudo Georgian duty mark. One spoon has excellent marks, with good detail, the other spoon marks are still good, but have some wear. Chinese Export silver is "stylistically Anglo-American, of the late Georgian period, of fine workmanship and exceptionally heavy weight" - (Kernan, China Trade Silver - Checklists for Collectors Nov 1965) - these spoons are no exception. The website www.chineseexportsilver.com also notes that "Yatshing silver is always of a high standard".