Round Box Marks | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Round Box Marks

Round Box Marks
Submitted by anonymous-01
Tags: 
John Olson

Think this is the best I can do with the marks on the back of the round box mentioned below.

Anbody able to make anything out from the picture?

Thanks,

Sean

 

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Gallery: 
1900s Hong Kong
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Comments

Submitted by David on Sat, 2014-05-24 20:15.

I've enlarged & rotated the view:

Makers marks

The top two have Chinese characters, while the one on the bottom looks to be "SH".

Regards, David

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sat, 2014-05-24 23:02.

Thanks David. It is a very finely made box and may well have been part of a set for a lady's dresing table. Thought it might contain face powder but am told that at two and a half inches deep and three and a bit across it is too big for that! What would we know?

Would SH signify Silver Hong Kong?  Also found a small mug which I must clean up and take a pic of.

Google not much help on this sort of everyday stuff. Ok if it is worth a few million but otherwise disappoints.

Regards, Sean

Submitted by C on Sat, 2014-05-24 23:19.

Hi Sean,

The character on the right looks like "古".  It is pronounced "gu" in Cantonese and it means "ancient" or "old".  It is also a surname which is commonly spelt "Ku" or "Koo".  Another possibility is "吉".  It is pronounced "gut" and means "auspicious".

The two characters on the left look like "大新". They are pronounced "tai sun" and literally mean "big new".

"Gu Tai Sun" could be the name of a person.  Alternatively, "Tai Sun" is the name of a now-closed department store in Hong Kong that opened in the early 1910s.

Submitted by MaryT on Sun, 2014-05-25 12:01.

I agree with C that the two characters are 大新 Da Xin (Mandarin Pinyin) but I disagree with his/her interpretation of the single character.  I believe it is the character 黃 Huang, a common Chinese surname often spelt as Wong by Cantonese in Hong Kong.

Submitted by defortescue on Sun, 2014-05-25 16:07.

You may want to contact Esme Parish (esmeparishsilver.com) who specialises in Chinese and Japanese Export silver. She is frequently in Hong Kong including right now for the International Antiques Fair at the Convention Centre which is on until 7pm tomorrow night and where she is at Booth E8.

Her email address is esme@esmeparishsilver.com.

Diana 

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sun, 2014-05-25 17:23.

Thank you all for your informations regarding the marks. I really do appreciate all the help.

I will also get in touch with the specialist suggested, I have found another piece of interest which I will try and post to see if anybody can identify it.

Once again thanks,

Will let you know if I get some specialist information.

Sean