Export Chinese Kettle & Stand
Maker: Hung Chong of Canton/Shanghai, circa 1900
height: 35cm
The teapot comprises a melon-shaped body with applied bamboo decoration, a hinged
cover engraved with a bamboo leaf design and surmounted by a handle in the shape of a
bamboo segment, and a sturdy hinged handle which is also stylised as a bamboo segment.
It sits on a stand also stylised as bamboo. A spirit burner sits within the stand. The cap over
the burner’s wick rotates by means of a turning knob so that the cap can be lifted. This
device also lifts the wick. The set is all in high-grade silver and fully functional.
Each of the base of the legs of the stand, the spirit burner and the teapot are stamped with
‘HC’ for Hung Chong and a Chinese ideogram. The maker Hung Chong is known to have
had branches in Shanghai and Canton (Guangdong) in the second half of the nineteenth
century and first quarter of the twentieth century.
Overall, this is a visually arresting, decorative object and an excellent example of Chinese
silversmithing.
References: a very similar kettle and stand by Hung Chong is illustrated in Chinese Export
Silver: The Chan Collection, published in conjunction with the Asian Civilisations Museum,
Singapore, 2005.
Inventory no.: 501
Maker: Hung Chong of Canton/Shanghai, circa 1900
height: 35cm
The teapot comprises a melon-shaped body with applied bamboo decoration, a hinged
cover engraved with a bamboo leaf design and surmounted by a handle in the shape of a
bamboo segment, and a sturdy hinged handle which is also stylised as a bamboo segment.
It sits on a stand also stylised as bamboo. A spirit burner sits within the stand. The cap over
the burner’s wick rotates by means of a turning knob so that the cap can be lifted. This
device also lifts the wick. The set is all in high-grade silver and fully functional.
Each of the base of the legs of the stand, the spirit burner and the teapot are stamped with
‘HC’ for Hung Chong and a Chinese ideogram. The maker Hung Chong is known to have
had branches in Shanghai and Canton (Guangdong) in the second half of the nineteenth
century and first quarter of the twentieth century.
Overall, this is a visually arresting, decorative object and an excellent example of Chinese
silversmithing.
References: a very similar kettle and stand by Hung Chong is illustrated in Chinese Export
Silver: The Chan Collection, published in conjunction with the Asian Civilisations Museum,
Singapore, 2005.
Inventory no.: 501
