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Attached are pictures of a silver teapot with lid and handle that was found in Vietnam. Can anyone tell me anything about what it is made of and what the marks on the bottom say. Thanks for any help!

The base-mark says "Made in the Qing Dynasty" but this piece has every sign of being a later resin or other sort of plastic casting, including the tell-tale distorted mark, a lack of detail in the markings and decoration, and what appear to be small pockmarks where bubbles burst through the surface during the curing process.

Such castings can date from around a decade or so on either side of the mid-20th century.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you Bill. I really think this teapot is metal. It weighs 1.5 pounds and it has all the characteristics of metal including the pinging sound when you hit the side with the handle. The inside is covered with a black substance that looks like soot and it can be scraped off. A few worn spots look like brass and/or copper underneath. Does this help?

Thanks, I'll try to read beyond the subject next time, though there's a fogginess about the photos that seem to have made my brain cloudier too.

Be that as it may, I'll lean on a master for assistance in this case from here on. The teapot at the eBay link has a description by Anthony Lee, who founded this forum and has earned Guru status among those who were fortunate enough to absorb his wisdom, some with greater efficiency than others in my case, apparently :(. If the photo link works here, you'll see how that mark is all flattened out like yours. Mr. Lee dates it for the seller to the late 1900s, which probably works for your pot as well. The flatness and filled-in look of the characters indicates the mold for the body of the pot was prepared using an impression of a mark that wasn't an original casting.

Best regards,

Bill H.



URL Title :Silver Teapot

The link came out truncated, and I can no longer find the listing, which apparently has ended. However, the picture link conveys the idea I believe.

Best regards,

Bill H.

I found another link which may work if pasted into your browser, knock on wood.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232825238093?ul_noapp=true

Bill H.

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