Monday, December 21, 2009

Tea Auction in Beijing

End of December seems to be a good time for auctioning tea in Beijing! There was one last year and one yesterday. The first 6 pages are about old puerh. Fewer seem to have sold this year. Still, this auction recorded the extraordinary amount of RMB 504,000 (73,000 USD) for a 280 gram Hung Piao Sung Hao that's (supposedly) 80+ years old. That's over 250 USD per gram (6 times the price of gold)!

For a 88 Raw cake (late 1980s 7542 cake), the price is now RMB 13,440 (USD 1,950) or 6 USD per gram. Cloud's mentions a price of USD 1,300 in 2007 for this cake (see A0405)... 50% increase in 2 years and a half (we're almost in 2010)!

Pages 7 to 11 list the Yixing teapots that were for sale. You can look at the items by scrolling over the name (3rd column) and then clicking for a closer view. The 4th column indicates the estimated price range and the last column indicates the final price. No price means the item failed to reach the minimum bid. This was often the case for the Yixing teapots on this auction. And I agree there were few designs I liked. The star of the auction, a zisha Shi Piao Hu sold for RMB 896,000 (USD 130,000)! -My hungni Shi Piao is almost just as beautiful! Well, almost ;)-

The best selling items on this auction were the old Japanese tetsubins on page 12 and 13. Only 2 failed to sell. Gold and silver decorated tetsubins very particularly appreciated. This kind of decoration shows that these kettles weren't for common people, but for the most powerful and rich Japanese. Now they belong to rich Chinese. A sign of changing times...

Article 5 from this auctioning company states that "the Company cannot guarantee the genuineness or fakery or the quality of the Lot (...) Bidder and/or his/her/its agent shall bear the responsibility of carrying out his/her/its own inspection and investigations as to the nature of the Lot." The key points are in the fine print.
With the pictures of old puerh and teapots, it can be fun to play Sherlock Holmes. For instance, can you spot what's wrong with this cake or this teapot? (I have posted my answer in the comments).

Update: The winner is Nerval. This wine taster will receive 25 grams of winter 2009 Dong Pian from Zhu Shan. He will find it interesting that, contrary to wine, the later the harvest, the lighter and fresher the Oolong tastes. However, yields also drop and price increase as well.

The runner up is Tyler. He wins a 25 gram sample of winter Jinxuan Oolong. This is the tea that has blown Jeff away.
(Please send me an email with your postal address to claim your prize).

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