TeaChat

Wow, that is lovely--what kind of figure is that on the lid?

A lion

MarshalN wrote:

I like the pot! But what in the world is the second character on the stamp? It looks like it could be a Hindu symbol or something. The only thing I can think of that it resembles is 亞

画

Dunno if this is old, but I thought it was an adorable cup. Would've been absolutely to die for without the enamel deco but still, quite cute. About 35-40ml.

Bottoms -


Up -

the_economist wrote:Dunno if this is old, but I thought it was an adorable cup. Would've been absolutely to die for without the enamel deco but still, quite cute. About 35-40ml.

My, I would have been all over that one had I found it! Adorable!

Anyone know anything about this? My folks got it at a dirt market in China. Obviously, it's not something I use for tea! I have no idea what sort of metal it is, either.

AaronF wrote:Anyone know anything about this? My folks got it at a dirt market in China. Obviously, it's not something I use for tea! I have no idea what sort of metal it is, either.

Fake silver pot. Don't use.

Fake silver pot. Don't use.

Is it basically something made recently to sell to gullible tourists?

AaronF wrote:

Fake silver pot. Don't use.

Is it basically something made recently to sell to gullible tourists?

Yup

Fake silver pot. Don't use.
Is it basically something made recently to sell to gullible tourists?
Yup

Heh. Thanks. I'm not surprised. Still, I like the little thing. It'll sit way up high, far from use.

If it helps at all, there's nothing about the pot that actually claims that it's silver, other than the color, so saying "fake" is questionable. If it were sold as silver, then yes, it's fake; otherwise, it is what it is.

The green oxidation on the snout suggests that it might be some alloy of copper, perhaps nickel silver (which, despite the name, has no silver in it, but does look like silver... it's usually copper, nickel, and zinc) or cupronickel (just copper and nickel). Either way, alloys of questionable origin are also questionable for food use, so you are wise to use it for display only.

Drax wrote:If it helps at all, there's nothing about the pot that actually claims that it's silver, other than the color, so saying "fake" is questionable. If it were sold as silver, then yes, it's fake; otherwise, it is what it is.

The green oxidation on the snout suggests that it might be some alloy of copper, perhaps nickel silver (which, despite the name, has no silver in it, but does look like silver... it's usually copper, nickel, and zinc) or cupronickel (just copper and nickel). Either way, alloys of questionable origin are also questionable for food use, so you are wise to use it for display only.

The base of the pot claims it's from the Ming dynasty, which is why I said it's fake. It's usually sold as silver (you can find these things on eBay)

The base of the pot claims it's from the Ming dynasty, which is why I said it's fake. It's usually sold as silver (you can find these things on eBay)

Hehe. What else does the base say?

MarshalN wrote:The base of the pot claims it's from the Ming dynasty

Ah, much more interesting, thanks!

I haven't really read anything on this topic before (that is, marks used in different eras) -- I'm going to guess that they wouldn't use something like "明朝"... so out of curiosity, what does it actually say? I only can make out 穴 and maybe 庸...