Chinese export silver
A name on the object
The Hong Kong Museum of Art identifies Cutshing as a silverware shop at 8 New China Street in Canton, historical Guangzhou. It records CU or CUT as shop marks, distinguishing them from the CS of Cumshing, another shop on the street.
Treat Cutshing as a business name in these records; a mark alone does not establish the identity of an individual maker or the hands that produced every piece.
Object study
Objects as evidence
Follow individual records and keep each attribution attached to its object.
A service in Regency taste
Christie’s catalogues a three-piece tea service with the mark of Cutshing, Canton, to the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The teapot, covered cream jug and open sugar bowl have fluted lower bodies and angular handles with acanthus; the teapot has ivory insulators. The three pieces weigh 2,544 g gross.
The catalogue describes marks on the reverse. When comparing a service, record each component’s marks separately and ask about repairs, replacement parts and whether the pieces belong together. Gross weight includes other materials; it is not a measurement of silver alone.
Spoons and a gift
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston lists a tablespoon and a dessert spoon under Cutshing, both dated about 1840–1860. Preserve the museum’s attribution when recording them; a listing under a name is not a biography of the individual who formed each spoon.
The Peabody Essex Museum’s Coolidge cup, discussed in the table guide, offers another role: it is catalogued as retailed by Cutshing. Its inscription identifies people involved in a gift, while the exact occasion remains unresolved. A recipient, retailer and maker are separate fields of evidence.
Follow an interest
What to explore.
A historical firm profile built around object records, not a complete register of workshops or marks.
Check the details
Before you buy.
Start with the individual piece and its complete record.
Open the references
Research this name.
- Related Collect Silver guide
Chinese export silver
Explore the wider trade.
- Related Collect Silver guide
Makers, workshops and marks
Read different marks in context.
- Related Collect Silver guide
Table, tea and presentation silver
Compare serving vessels and gifts.
- Related Collect Silver guide
Construction and identification
Examine relief, joins, and condition.
Sources & further reading
- Three-piece tea service, lot 5433197 Christie’s · Auction object record
- Shopping in Canton, supplementary information, pp. 10, 37 Hong Kong Museum of Art · Museum exhibition guide
- Cutshing objects Museum of Fine Arts, Houston · Museum collection listing
- The Coolidge cup Peabody Essex Museum · Museum research
Museum and object records support the distinctions in this profile.