RARE PAIR OF CHINESE ENAMELLED SILVER 'CRANE AND TAIJI' DISHES
LATE QING TO REPUBLIC PERIOD, FANG JIU XIA, SHANGHAI & CHONGQING, CA. 1880-1925
£1,071
Auction: 08 November 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清末民初 「重慶 方九霞」款 外銷銀加彩松鶴太極圖盤（一對）
each vibrantly enamelled in the interior with a crane perching on a pine tree, the other in flight, all enclosing a taiji medallion, further detailed with fine incision, outer cavetto covered in pale blue enamel, the base applied with a small rectangular panel marked ‘Chongqing Fang Jiu Xia’ (2)
Dimensions
diameters: 21.2cm, 352g; 21cm, 344g
Provenance
The Estate of Sir John and Lady Clare Keswick at Portrack House, Dumfriesshire.
Sir John Henry Keswick, KCMG (1906–1982) was an influential Scottish businessman in China and Hong Kong. He was the tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson & Co., the leading British trading firm in the Far East, and had established friendships with many Chinese politicians, including Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China, and Madame Soong Ching-ling, wife of Sun Yat-sen during his stay in China. He was also a representative of the Special Operations Executive, a British intelligence service during the Second World War. Sir John spoke fluent Chinese. He was a Chinese art collector, particularly contemporary paintings.
He married Clare Mary Alice Cynthia Catherine Celia Elwes (1905–1998) in 1940 and had a child Margaret Keswick (1941–1995) who founded Maggie's Centres for those suffering from cancer.
蘇格蘭鄧弗里斯郡，波特拉克莊園宅邸，約翰·凱瑟克爵士及克萊爾·凱瑟克女爵舊藏。
約翰·亨利·凱瑟克爵士（1906-1982）是一名在中國及香港頗具影響力的蘇格蘭商人，曾任遠東最大英資財團怡和洋行大班一職。在中國期間與周恩來總理和孫中山夫人宋慶齡有過接觸。1940年，他與克萊爾·瑪麗·愛麗絲·辛西婭·凱瑟琳·西莉亞·艾爾維斯（1905-1998）結婚，育有一女瑪格麗特·凱瑟克（1941-1995 年），後者創立了英國著名的慈善機構銘琪癌症關顧中心。
Footnote
According to Chinese export silver expert Adrien Von Ferscht, Fang Jiu Xia is one of the so-called ‘Nine Factories’ in Shanghai, however this is now a rare mark to come across. The mark is normally affixed with branch shops opened under the same banner and was quite common among the more established Shanghai silversmiths to open branches in this manner. (A. Von Ferscht, Chinese Export Silver 1785-1940, 4th edition 2015).