Wang Hing & Co. Boxes

The burgundy / brown lacquer is decorated with gold depicting figures and buildings in a landscape. The caddy stands on four carved wooden feet in the shape of claws. The interior contains a single pewter canister...

A very fine and charming Chinese export silver spoon in the form of a dragon, by Wang Hing & Co., Qing Dynasty, late 19th century, China. ...

Chinese silver box with repousse, chasing and cast applied dragons. Very fine period work. Marked with French import hallmarks.

A Chinese silver goblet profusely decorated with chased, richly defined chrysanthemum against a matte background and is supported by two intertwi...

Chinese for the English market, 19th century. A fine quality antique Chinese export tea caddy decorated with beautiful gilding surfaces, a hinged lid which opens to reveal a tooled ...

Hallmarked Sterling by William Vincent of London Dated 1779 From our Tea Caddy collection, we are delighted to offer this Georgian Sterling Silver Tea Caddy. The Tea Caddy of slight...

A beautifully crafted Chinese export tea caddy made of wood with black lacquer, richly adorned with gilded motifs featuring classical Chinese scenes of people, houses, and more. The ...

A Chinese export tea caddy dating from the first half of the 19th century of cylindrical octagonal form in black lacquer with gilt decoration throughout. The body is decorated with f...

A stunning antique Qing Dynasty Chinese export twin canister tea caddy / decorative table box. circa 1860 Hand-crafted in China for the European market when rare and exotic oriental...

Old Chinese Opium Box in Cloisonné Enamel, decorated with Vases and Flowers. French Private Collection

Offered is a stunning Sheffield silver keepsake box dating to 1900, with associated hallmark. This small box includes a clean interior and rounded corners. The box is free of names or initials, but would have been used to house keepsakes such as jewelry or cufflinks. A well maintained, elegant piece, this antique silver box is an excellent addition to any silver collection. Trinket or keepsake boxes have taken on many forms since their first conception in ancient times. However their purpose remains the same; to store jewelry and other items precious to the owner. Originally, these boxes were used specifically for jewelry. These were in common use as early as 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt, when the majority of Egyptians, both male and female, wore jewelry. Boxes were used to keep these gemstone encrusted items safe. In Ancient Rome, jewelry was a status symbol. Rings and brooches were utilized to represent ones status in society. Again, boxes were needed for security and storage purposes. Finding early examples of these are quite rare. Victorian and Edwardian examples of trinket boxes are far more common. This is because owning jewellery was a luxury until the Victorian era- let alone possessing so much a box was needed to store it all. Fine jewelry and other items became available to the masses after the industrial revolution due to the reduction in production costs. This led to a demand for trinket boxes, which were much smaller than jewelry boxes and therefore better suited to the needs of the middle class who did not yet possess an abundance of jewelry. In Victorian households, collectables and other items of interested were also stashed inside these boxes. This is why they are known as trinket or keepsake boxes, rather than just jewelry boxes, although of course jewelry was also stored in them. Trinket boxes were produced in large numbers around this time. Many were lined with colored plush or velvet or rich wood. More elaborate designs had interior divisions and trays for rings and other pieces of jewellery. It was also common to see trinket boxes so small that they could only contain one item, such as a single ring. Ornate exteriors were created to reflect the value of the trinket boxes contents. The Edwardian era saw the introduction of new styles of trinket box. These included small circular or oblong boxes...

Chinese export silver cigarette case, ca 1910. Curved and rectangular with push tab. On cover engraved tail-chasing dragon—all talons and horns and scaly serpentine body. Back plain....