{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O34834"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O34834/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MB2676/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MB2676/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019MB2676","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MB2675","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O34834/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O34834","accessionNumber":"470-1894","objectType":"Cigarette box","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This cigarette box was manufactured in Shanghai at the time when it was the largest Western community in East Asia. It was probably meant to be a souvenir or for export.\r\n\r\nFrom 1800 Chinese metalworkers mainly produced imitations of western models which were then exported to the West at prices that reflected the low cost of Chinese labour. After 1800 it was a custom for Chinese silversmiths, mainly from Shanghai and Canton, to mark their works. They made up their own hallmarks in imitation of those they saw when asked to copy a certain object.","physicalDescription":"Oblong silver cigarette box, with hinged lid, decorated in repoussé with sea creatures and plants against a ground of ring matting produced by the use of a circular punch. Marked with the Chinese characters 'Baoxing'. It was manufactured in Shanghai, the then largest Western community in East Asia, and it was probably meant to be a souvenir or for export. Since 1800 Chinese metalware was mainly produced in imitation of Western models and then imported to the West for the low cost of Chinese labour.  After 1800 it was a custom for Chinese silversmiths mainly from Shanghai and Canton to mark their works in imitation of the hallmarks they saw when asked to copy a certain object.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Baoxing","id":"A15313"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"repousse","id":"AAT54023"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver worked in repousse","categories":[{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"}],"styles":[{"text":"Qing","id":"AAT18478"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2019MB2676","2019MB2675"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES361799"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Box","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Shanghai","id":"x29883"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1880","earliest":"1875-01-01","latest":"1884-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"16.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"10","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This object was purchased by the V&A from Stefano Cardu in 1894.\n\r\nBorn in Cagliari, Sardinia, Stefano Cardu travelled to Siam in the 1870s, where he worked as a draftsman for the Siamese government. Later he established his own construction company, S. Cardu & Co. Building Contractors. He undertook projects including the construction of the palace of Prince Chaturonrasmi, the Royal Military College, and the first post and telegraph office in Thailand. The success of his building company allowed Cardu to assemble a collection comprising artworks and objects not only from Siam, but also from India, China, and Japan. In 1894, he visited London and offered a portion of his collection for sale to the V&A (Nos. 396 to 475-1894). Around this time, he also sold and donated objects to the British Museum. An auction of other parts of his collection was held in London in 1895. Some of those objects remained unsold and were loaned to the V&A from April 1895. Around 1899, Cardu left Siam and returned to Cagliari. After a few years of correspondence, Cardu visited London again in 1908 and the V&A purchased several objects from the loan collection (Nos. 355 to 364-1908). He also gifted several more objects as thanks for the care offered by the V&A since 1895 (Nos. 376 to 422-1908). The objects now in the V&A’s collection include examples of lacquerware, nielloware, enamelled porcelain, objects used in the traditional Thai hair-cutting ceremony, basketry, arms and armour, and some Buddhist sculpture. In 1913, he donated the rest of his collection to the city of Cagliari, and this went on to the form the core collection of the Museo d’arte Siamese Stefano Cardu. Cardu died in Cagliari in 1933.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"decorated with sea creatures, Shanghai, about 1880","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Cardu, Stefano","id":"AUTH412288"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["470-1894"],"accessionNumberNum":"470","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1894,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-20","recordCreationDate":"2000-04-05","availableToBook":true}}