Chinese Export Silver would not exist had it not have been for the late China Trade [1757-1842]. My recent research has resulted in this revealing, highly evocative and other-worldly journey “behind the scenes” that dispels many of the long-standing misconceptions of the mechanics of the trade itself, the convoluted relationship between the Chinese Hong merchants; the foreign merchants and the complex hierarchy of retail silversmiths and workshops in Canton and the later other treaty ports; the once Chinese passion for English “sing-songs” that now sell for over £1million each at auction; the vast fortunes made by the Chinese and foreign merchants including the $1.3billion Astor legacy and head Hong merchant Houqua’s fortune of $1.5billion in today’s terms. The findings will be seen by some to be controversial; they are the reality, upheld by the consensus of opinion of the many travel journals about Canton of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:50:58 +0000
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