Item number: X2-M247

Year: AD 1889-1895

Material: Silver

Size: 49.7 x 49.1 x 28.5 mm

Weight: 40.25 g

Provenance: Künker 2023

This is a silver napkin ring originally given to Wilhem Fleischer, a senior engineer formerly with the German Navy, by his friend A. Hekmann. The napkin ring features a bamboo-like design with Chinese motifs and is engraved with the auspicious Chinese characters “福壽康寧” (meaning “Fortune, Longevity, Health, and Peace”). On the other side, it is engraved in German with “Willi Fleischer Andenken an China von A. HEKMAN,” which translates to “A. HEKMAN’s China memento for Willi Fleischer.”

In AD 1851, Wilhelm Fleischer was born in Westphalia, Germany. Later, as a senior engineer, he joined the German Navy and was responsible for the development of torpedo weaponry. In AD 1881, Fleischer was assigned to assist in the construction of the Imperial Chinese Navy. By AD 1889, Fleischer submitted his resignation to the German Navy and officially became a foreign advisor to the Imperial Chinese Navy. At that time, the Qing Empire, eager to catch up with the world, recruited European and American technical personnel with generous conditions. Fleischer, along with his wife and two daughters, settled in Shanghai to start a new life until he resigned and returned to Germany in AD 1895. To commend Fleischer’s contributions, the Qing court awarded him the Third Class, Second Grade Order, in accordance with the regulations for conferring the Order of the Double Dragon.

After returning to Germany, Fleischer headed the torpedo division at “Berliner Maschinenbau AG,” for which he was awarded the Fourth-Class Prussian Crown Order. Wilhelm Fleischer passed away in Berlin on January 15, AD 1919, at the age of 68.

物件編號: X2-M247

年代: 公元 1889-1895 年

材質: Silver

尺寸: 49.7 x 49.1 x 28.5 mm

重量: 40.25 g

來源: 昆克 2023

這是原為德國海軍一員的資深工程師威廉.弗萊舍(Wilhem. Fleischer)，其朋友赫克曼(A. Hekmann)贈與他的銀質餐巾環。餐巾環的外觀是具備中國意象的竹節，並鐫刻工整的「福壽康寧」漢字吉祥語，餐巾環的另一面以德文鐫刻「Willi Fleischer Andenken an China von A. HEKMAN」，意思是「由A. HEKMAN 設計的 Willi Fleischer 中國紀念品」。

公元1851年，威廉.弗萊舍出生於德國西發里亞，後續以資深工程師身分投身於德國海軍，並負責魚雷武器的研製。公元1881年，弗萊舍被指派至清帝國協助其海軍建設。公元1889年，弗萊舍向德國海軍遞出辭呈，正式成為清帝國海軍的「洋員」顧問。彼時急於追趕上世界的清帝國以優渥條件招聘歐美的技術人員，弗萊舍攜帶妻子和兩個女兒定居於上海展開新生活，直到公元1895年辭職歸國。清廷為鼓勵弗萊舍的貢獻，按照雙龍寶星頒發章程，授予對應其職位的三等二級寶星。

弗萊舍歸國以後，主管「柏林機械製造股份公司」的魚雷部門，還為此得到「四等普魯士王冠勳章」。公元1919年1月15日，弗萊舍逝世於柏林，享年68歲。