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Can anyone tell me what these are, or what the inscriptions are. The second photo is the mark on the rear of each bar

I've posted three of the inscriptions on the lower face of the bars

The latter three characters are read 'hua hui chuan' in Mandarin, which carries a meaning of 'to spread or propogate flowers'. The other character could modify that meaning. I couldn't find anything searching 'hua hui' in the dictionary of Chinese sayings. Perhaps your small panels depict flowers of the four seasons.

Best regards,

Bill H.

The characters are pronounced 'zu yin' and mean 'pure silver', which typically would be .950 fine or sterling quality. The shape and decoration on the individual panels resemble that found on a Chinese screen.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Zu Yin 足银 (first picture) usually means the silver content is at least 99%, it can be either S99 (0.99) or S990 (0.990) They are usually too soft to use for making jeweleries and can easily turn black (tarnish). I remember in Hong Kong I used to buy Zu Yin charms and almost turned black quickly.

Wen Yin 紋銀 usually refer to sterling silver (0.925) in modern days. However, during Qing dynasty, the government had set the standard for Wen Yin to be .935374 That means each one-tael silver sycee had to contain at least 93.5374% pure silver. Each 1-tael silver sycee could be exchanged for 1000 copper cash.

http://baike.baidu.com/view/1899414.htm
http://baike.baidu.com/view/628665.htm

Hope this helps.

Bill

Hello again Graham,
I was browsing Christie's archives and happend across another miniature silver screen with similar characteristics although in a different motif. I've pasted the URL below.
Best regards,
Bill H.

URL Title :MiniScreen

Thanks for all the info. I have just found a mark I hadn't noticed before on the face of one plaque, does it mean anything

I believe it simply is meant to be part of the decoration. This segment of the motif compliments the mini screen concept by being placed on the panel like a cursive calligraphic inscription with artist seal that you might find on the real thing. Reading it is beyond my capacity.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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