The Russian silver kovsh with vivid polychrome enamels is a widely known image of Russian tradition and nowadays a very sought after object by collectors worldwide. Nevertheless few know that Russian kovsh has its origin in the 10th century.

Scholar Adrien Von Ferscht described Cheong Lam as ‘a sadly all too rare retail silversmith whose work demonstrates clearly a highly creative mind and a quest for the highest quality’ (A. Von Ferscht, Chinese Export Silver 1785-1940, 4th edition 2015).

Wing Fat is a very fine although quite rare Chinese retail silversmith, active in Canton and Hong Kong between 1875 and 1930. The person at the head of the company is still unknown, but surely he employed very fine artisans, not just in Canton, but also in Shanghai to create superb quality items.

Hoaching (original Cantonese name is Wo Hing) is one of the largest silversmithing businesses based in Canton between 1825 and 1880. The shop, initially retailing finely carved ivory, is documented since 1825. It was later taken over by the founder’s two sons, and by 1850 the firm was retailing also silver, jewellery items, carved wood, mother of pearl and lacquer.

Cum wo is one of the first Chinese Export silversmiths known active in Hong Kong since 1860. He had a shop in Queen’s Road, where many silversmiths were based, but the superb quality of his works and the attention to details made him stand out among the others.

Tu Mao Xing mark is a quite a recent discovery: until 1980’s in fact he was wrongly identified as Kan Mao Xing and therefore not much is known about him. Tu Mao Xingis one of the first silversmiths operating in Kiukang between 1880 and 1930 and he is certainly one of the finest 19th Century Chinese silversmiths.

Cutshing is the trading name of a company based in Canton famous for retailing luxury items in silver, ivory, jade as well as high quality filigree and enamel items.

Active in the late 19th Century, Tuck Chang is undoubtedly the most popular retail silversmith of Shanghai, thus often referred to as the ‘Wang Hing of Shanghai’.

Like Wang Hing, the firm also traded in jade, ivory and jewellery.

Luen Wo was a very important retail silversmith based in Shanghai, he also traded in jewellery, diamonds and embroideries. His artworks show a very high quality that only equals the standards of Wang Hing, in Canton.

Da Xing is a well-known silversmith active both in Canton and Singapore in the second half of 19th Century.

Famous for its fine craftsmanship, Da Xing produced silver for the wealthiest families in Malacca.

Probably the greatest and finest Chinese Export retailer, Wang Hing started trading in Canton soon after 1842 when, with the end of the First Opium War and the treaty of Nanking, China opened its ports to foreign merchants and Hong Kong became a British colony.

The firm, producing gold and silver items was established in St. Petersburg in 1866 by Gavriil Petrovich Grachev, who had previously worked for Gasse.

At his death in 1873 his sons Mikhail, Simon and Grigory took over the company and renamed it into Grachev Brothers. Each brother used to mark the artworks he produced with his own mark, as the firm didn’t have a mark on its own.

Of Jewish origins, Isaac Abramovich Rappoport was born in 1851 (although some sources say 1864) in Lithuania. After his apprenticeship in Berlin, he became a master in 1884 and moved to St. Petersburg, where he opened his own workshop and started working as head silversmith for Fabergé. A few years later he became a Christian and changed his name to Julius Alexander.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Nemirov was born in Vologda in 1819, into a merchant family. During his youth he lost both his parents and moved to Moscow in 1843.  In early 1850s he started working as a clerk for the silver merchant Ivan Ivanovich Kolodkin. Ivan Kolodkin didn’t have children and named Nikolai his heir, giving him his surname.

Stephan Wakeva was born in Finland in 1833. He went to St. Petersburg at the age of ten and was apprenticed as a silversmith. In 1856 he qualified as a master and founded his own workshop specialised in tableware, tea sets, tankards and samovars. Wakeva supplied the firm of Gustav Fabergé with silverware and from the late 1870s he had a contract with the company to work exclusively for it.

Pavel Ovchinnikov (in Russian: Павел Акимович Овчинников) was one of the most famous Russian silversmiths of his time and an exceptional businessman.

He was born in Moscow province in 1830, from a family of modest origins: his father was a serf. Nevertheless Pavel was sent to study in Moscow by Prince Dimitri Volkonski, where he was apprenticed in a jewellery shop.

Friedrich Mauritz Ruckert was born in the south of Germany in 1840. At the age of fourteen he emigrated to Russia to work for the Yusupov family. There he was named Feodor Ivanovich Ruckert.

In 1886 he opened his own workshop in Moscow at 29 Vorontsovskaya Street and one year later he signed a contract with Fabergé. He never worked exclusively for the well known firm, but for thirty years he was the main supplier of cloisonné enamel for the Fabergé company.

Ivan Khlebnikov (in Russian: Иван Хлебников)was born in St. Petersburg, son of a diamond and jewellery merchant. By 1865 he had his own jewellery firm, where he employed his sons Mikhail, Alexei and Nikolai.

In 1871 Ivan opened a factory in Moscow, employing around 200 artisans.

Within the premises of his factory he also opened a school of design and sculpture for thirty-five students.

Ivan Khlebnikov (in Russian: Иван Хлебников)was born in St. Petersburg, son of a diamond and jewellery merchant. By 1865 he had his own jewellery firm, where he employed his sons Mikhail, Alexei and Nikolai.

In 1871 Ivan opened a factory in Moscow, employing around 200 artisans.

Within the premises of his factory he also opened a school of design and sculpture for thirty-five students.

After his apprenticeship in Finland, where he was born, Erik Kollin moved to St. Petersburg, where he registered as a goldsmith and started working for August Holmstrom.

In 1868 he qualified as master goldsmith and two years later he opened his own workshop. Kollin worked exclusively for Fabergé and from 1870 to 1886 he held the role of head workmaster for the company.