A mixed group of early 20th century Chinese Export silver items Comprising a cruet set composed of a late 19th century salt in the form of shoe, Canton circa 1890 retailed by Wing Fat with embossed decoration of a moth, marked underneath WF and artisan mark, a pepper pot and a mustard pot Shanghai circa 1920, of ovoid form upon four legs modelled as chameleons, with flat chased decoration of Chinese dragons below meander scroll borders, the lid with chou symbols, each marked underneath with two ideograms. Also, to include a bracelet, a gilt broach, a buckle, and seven spoons, all with artisan mark, one spoon retailed by Kwong Man Shing. (13) Weight – 239 grams / 7.68 ozt Provenance: Thomas Child (1841-1898) and his family, thence by descent. An English photographer and engineer best known for his pioneering photography work in China. Child produced a large body of photographs during his time in Beijing in the 1870s and 1880s, a time when virtually no other photographers operated in the city. During the two decades he spent in China, Child compiled the earliest comprehensive photographic catalogue of the customs, architecture, and people of late Qing dynasty Beijing. Child returned to England in 1889 with his family, except for his eldest son Alfred, also employed with the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, who stayed behind in Beijing as his father's successor. Child formally retired from the Customs service the following year.