QuestionI have recently purchased what I believe is a Chinese Trade Silver teapot that is unusually heavily detailed and decorated in dragon motif.
I have been unable to find a matching mark (Chinese , stamped) in any and all reference materials for such marks.
This teapot has a straight ivory handle (71mm length) rounded on the end , double-fitted and invisably pinned into a silver ferrule on its' side .
After extensive searching in museum , trade , private , auction and commercial collections , I have not found any other teapots/winepots from this era that used a straight , side-mounted ivory handle .
I am asking for any suggestions you may have , as to where to search next .
I am just trying to find out about this objects' origin and history , regardless of it's obvious value to collectors .
I will soon be speaking with some Chinese folks who can read the letters within the marks , in a large city nearby ...perhaps help will be found there .
I thank you very much , in advance , for just looking at my post here .
AnswerHello Daniel
Oddly it sounds like a teapot I bought on eBay o! Look under eBay's collectibles and then do a wider search , perhaps filtering the results to sellers from china and see if yours is there..I know it sounds a bit off-the-wall and simplistic but the teapot without anything more for me to go on but your description sounds like a made for export tourist trade version of a Chang dynasty or later vessel.
The fact that the handle sounds riveted to a ferule is not characteristic of older pieces in which the metal was wrapped much like a bezel and compression fitted to the vessels tank..that's about the only clue I can point you to looking towards- if there are no rivets then you MAY have something, but the dragon motif is more modern and without the reference marks, inscriptions, or characters I haven't much to go on. In all likelihood the words are long life or something of that nature..
If it is in fact ivory there are a number of collectors that would be interested in it depending on many elements and its provenance but chances are we have the same teapot..
One thing you can check quite quickly is whether the decorative elements are soldered on..if so then it's modern. If i had a description or photo of the marks then I could give a more educated answer..but in all probability it's not ivory and not that old and a production piece made between the 1940's to date..
best regards,Ari
