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Browse these categories under "Chinese / Asian Antique Silver"

Here at AC Silver we are pleased to be able to offer our customers an exceptional range of antique Chinese and Asian silver for sale.


Our collection of silverware features pieces from all over the continent of Asia, mostly from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.


These items are all the finest examples of their type and are in presentation condition. Often, Asian and Chinese silver is beautifully decorated with delicate engraving, and our selection of items display this beautifully.


The stunning craftsmanship and ornamentation of these pieces of Chinese and Asian antique silverware makes them a perfect gift or presentation piece in any home.


We encourage you to peruse our selection of Chinese and Asian antique silver, and hope that you discover a piece which you or your loved one will adore.


Chinese Export Silver

Chinese Export Silver is the name given to silverware produced in China from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. These pieces would be crafted for export with merchants trading with China.


In the early 19th century, the Western world commissioned silverware to be reproduced in China, as they could provide items cheaply through melting trade dollars they obtained through trade of their silks, spices and exotic goods.


Through the end of the 19th century Chinese silversmiths developed their own decoration, no longer replicating the European designs. Instead, there became an influx of Chinese dragon and oriental landscape scenes. This lavish ornamentation was a classic and traditional Asian aesthetic, eminently suitable for the highly decorative style of the Victorian era.


Chinese Export Silver (CES) can typically be identified from the ornamentation and hallmarks.


Whilst many Chinese Export Silver items bear hallmarks, there was no silver hallmark regulations in place within China, making the combination of marks more relaxed than British examples; items crafted prior to the late 19th century are often unmarked.


It is possible to locate items hallmarked with pseudo-hallmarks which resemble a formation of British hallmarks. The early Chinese silversmiths replicated pieces brought to them from the West, and without a full understanding of the British hallmarking system, they would copy the full design including the hallmarks. The only hallmark that had valid meaning within these pseudo-hallmarks would be the Latin letters used for their own maker’s mark; however, this style can be used to aid the dating of item.


Chinese silversmiths developed their own hallmarks to include Latin initials of the maker, along with a mark of Chinese characters/ideograms of the artisan silversmith who produced the work under the master silversmith. This ‘character mark’ is known as a chopmark, and was an indication that the named maker ran a workshop with experienced silver makers.


In the absence of an assay system dating an item of Chinese silver can be objective, typically based in relation to the maker and composition of the piece.


Typically, Chinese Export Silver is made of 90% silver (.900, 900/1000 standard). The reason Chinese Export Silver is classically a lower standard that sterling is due to being crafted from Spanish trade dollars; this currency was the only one which the Chinese merchants would accept in exchange for their goods. There are examples of sterling and .800 standard Chinese silver available.


The majority of Chinese Export Silver (CES) was produced in a fairly well defined period between 1785 and 1914. This silver wasn’t originally made for export but was commissioned or purchased by spice and tea traders, diplomats stationed in China, or travellers to Asia in the 19th century. The CES trade initially developed in Canton (Guangzhou, Guangdong), spreading to Shanghai and Hong Kong in the mid-1800s.


CES was only produced in small quantities, mainly commissions, and at a very reasonable cost. Europeans spent many weeks travelling by boat to reach China, and so took it upon themselves to sojourn for weeks and even months at a time to make the journey worthwhile. This allowed commissions to be designed and made to very personal requirements, this is reflected in the individual nature of pieces produced. Initially, Chinese silversmiths and craftsmen copied pieces of Western silver, down to the finest detail, including the use of pseudo hallmarks. Chinese silver manufacturers didn’t strike a mark to symbolise the year in which their pieces were made. A Circa date can be ascertained either by style, a way in which a piece has been made, maker mark or combination of all.


In the mid-period of CES’s creation, Chinese motifs began to appear as understated additions to the usual Western imitations. Along with this change, Chinese maker’s marks were starting to be used on CES. These marks – called chopmarks – suggest that several silversmiths worked together under the tutelage of a master silversmith to carry out the creation of CES pieces. Research suggests that silversmith’s shops functioned in a production-line fashion, with a variety of experts carrying out different sections of the crafting. Once the piece was near completion, it would be the artisan silversmith who finished it with a Chinese chopmark.


Later in the timeline of CES production, with increased demand and an expansion in trade, Western influence was superseded by indigenous Chinese designs incorporating what have since become ubiquitous motifs: dragons, bamboo, lotus and plum blossoms.


Following the onset of the First World War in 1914, and Japan’s subsequent increase in influence over China, CES production and trade was gradually discontinued.



Indian Silver Two-Handled Tea Tray - Antique Circa 1880
Price: GBP £7,425.00
Chinese Export Silver Bowl - Antique Circa 1890
Price: GBP £5,445.00
Chinese Export Silver Three Piece Tea Service - Antique Circa 1920
Price: GBP £4,950.00
Chinese Export Silver Three Piece Tea Service - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £4,450.00
Indian Silver Jewellery Casket and Hand Mirror - Antique Circa 1890
Price: GBP £4,345.00
Japanese Pure Silver Presentation Bowl - Antique 1917
Price: GBP £4,345.00
Chinese Export Silver Three Piece Tea Service - Antique Circa 1890
Price: GBP £3,950.00
Chinese Export Silver Three Piece Tea Service - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £3,950.00
Chinese Export Silver Three Piece Tea Service - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £3,950.00
Chinese Export Silver Locking Box - Antique Circa 1890
Price: GBP £3,025.00
Chinese Export Silver Jewellery Box - Antique Circa 1895
Price: GBP £2,950.00
Chinese Export Silver Stand and Egg Cruet Set For Six Persons - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £2,915.00
Chinese Export Silver Fruit Dish - Antique Circa 1880
Price: GBP £2,475.00
Chinese Export Silver Goblet - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £2,450.00
19th Century Chinese Export Silver Wine Goblet
Price: GBP £2,450.00
Chinese Export Silver Mug - Antique Circa 1820
Price: GBP £2,250.00
Turkish Silver Goblets - Antique Circa 1880
Price: GBP £2,250.00
Chinese Export Silver Bowl - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £2,195.00
Chinese Export Silver Box - Antique Circa 1920
Price: GBP £1,995.00
Chinese Export Silver Tea Caddy - Antique Circa 1890
Price: GBP £1,995.00
Chinese Export Silver Cream Jug and Sugar Bowl - Antique Circa 1900
Price: GBP £1,995.00
Burmese Silver Thabeik Bowl - Antique Circa 1880
Price: GBP £1,865.00
Burmese Silver Bowl - Antique Circa 1880
Price: GBP £1,865.00
Antique Indian Silver Teapot
Price: GBP £1,795.00

Proud Members of

International Federation of Art and Antique Dealer Associations CINOA
LAPADA THE ASSOCIATION OF ART & ANTIQUES DEALERS
National Association of Jewellery UK's trade association NAJ