An early 19^th century Chinese Export silver teapot stand, Canton circa 1820 mark of Tu Hopp

China Trade Period, pf circular form with cavetto edge and ovolo rim, raised upon three fluted lion paw bracket feet. Plain field. Marked to the reverse with pseudo hallmarks (lion passant, Duty mark, Leopards head) and a T.

Diameter – 18.6 cm / 7.4 inches

Weight – 252 grams / 8.1 ozt

Tu Hopp whose mark of a T which was previously unidentified (Crosby 1975) is listed by Kernan (1985) as “a rare maker who probably used the letter T as his mark. He is known from the ships’s manifest to have made a tea chest that was imported on the second voyage of the Empress of China in 1786. This puts him along the earliest known makers for the American market and, of course, in Canton.”. There is also a suggestion that Tu Hopp supplied wares that were intended for the continental market, a large set of gilt fruit knives and fork marked with Tu Hopp’s T only in the French empire style were sold these rooms, 23^rd Oct 2019, Lot 109.

A teapot stand of near identical form to the present lot with the same marks, is illustrated in Forbes, Crosby, H.A., Devereux Kernan, J., & Wilkins, R.S. (1975) Chinese Export Silver 1785 to 1885. Massachusetts: Museum of the American China Trade, p. 207, fig. 146.

A similar dish with an ovolo rim with the same marks is illustrated in Devereux Kernan, J. (1985) The Chait Collection of Chinese Export Silver. New York: Chait Gallery, p. 169, fig. 176