Sep 23rd, '12, 06:42
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Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by JakubT » Sep 23rd, '12, 06:42

Hi,
the need for another teapot has come I guess... Now, although I have nothing against "usual" teapots, I'd like something a little different now. Since I saw the first Gong Chun style teapot in Art of Tea, I fell in love with it. However, it seems that it is not that easy to get them.

I discovered this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5000friend-Fame ... 0904231074 - and I do like it, but it is rather too large (I might try using it I guess, filling it only a third up). Don't you know of a place where to get a 100-150ml one?
Thanks!

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by theredbaron » Sep 23rd, '12, 07:32

I would strongly suggest not to to buy this pot, from this seller. This is a fake pot.
Already the price tag of 109 US$ for a pot supposedly from the period of 1900 to 1960 is a clear sign for fraud. If one is lucky to find a real pot from the time period(s) one would have to pay many times more than for what this pot is offered.

Sep 23rd, '12, 08:31
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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by JakubT » Sep 23rd, '12, 08:31

Well, I'm interested in how the pot looks - if it is a fake I like, I have no problem with it. Quality of clay taste-wise is another thing, but one can hardly tell from websites anyway.

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by MarshalN » Sep 23rd, '12, 08:42


Sep 23rd, '12, 09:02
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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by JakubT » Sep 23rd, '12, 09:02

Thanks! Is there any you'd recommend in particular?

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by MarshalN » Sep 23rd, '12, 09:08

Nope... never bought a yixing on taobao

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by theredbaron » Sep 23rd, '12, 09:09

JakubT wrote:Well, I'm interested in how the pot looks - if it is a fake I like, I have no problem with it. Quality of clay taste-wise is another thing, but one can hardly tell from websites anyway.

Sometimes though there are health issues involved in how such pots are treated in order to appear used. 5 years or so ago i bought a quite convincing pot here in Bangkok which then, when cleaning in boiling water, what appeared as subtle dark tea stains turned into a strange strange grey/white sticky substance - both inside and out. That was not scale, but something i really would not have wanted to ingest. Fortunately the seller took the pot back without argument.

Fake antiques are at times treated with unspeakable stuff in order to look old.

This particular ebay seller has since years offered countless pots supposedly from periods that Yixing collectors drool over and the few real pots that appear in the market are almost instantly snatched away for considerable amounts of money. And he sells such pots for way below market rates to westerners when they could, if real, sell for much more in China itself?

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by andrzej bero » Sep 23rd, '12, 10:44


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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by gingkoseto » Sep 23rd, '12, 12:50

I feel gong chun is a style that would be either artistic or be nothing. Unlike many other styles that one could find semi-manually made teapots of good quality and plain prices, gong chun can only be fully manually made, and would either look like a fantastic tree stump or an ugly rotten wood. Due to the style and consider the thickness of the clay, it's hard to make one both small and stylish, if possible at all. I once had a very small gong chun (<140ml I guess) and I always felt it was too small to be visualized as a gong chun.

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by wyardley » Sep 23rd, '12, 14:15

I think gong chun pots are usually on the large size, because it's such an old style.

I think you will have a hard time finding a nice one (of any size) for a low price, for the reasons that gingko mentioned. This style of pot has to be really well executed, or else it doesn't look so good IMHO.

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Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by debunix » Sep 23rd, '12, 14:17

It does looks like a style that needs a certain size/scale to be appreciated. And hard to see how that could be anything but pretty pricey even as a new pot made in a nondescript ordinary clay.

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by bagua7 » Sep 23rd, '12, 17:51

theredbaron wrote:5 years or so ago i bought a quite convincing pot here in Bangkok
Are you aware that 5000friend is not a Thai vendor?

To the OP, 5000friend's pots are not really vintage ones because they would fetch a high price, and secondly they wouldn't be advertised online.

Most of those pots are modern zhu ni but surprisingly their quality is very good bearing in mind their low price. And yes I own two pots and perform really well with TW High Mountain oolongs.

Regarding the pot you brought up in this thread...I have no idea about the quality of the duan ni clay used to make it. I guess the risk shall be borne by the buyer in this particular instance since it's an online purchase on eBay. Good luck...

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by theredbaron » Sep 23rd, '12, 21:37

bagua7 wrote:
theredbaron wrote:5 years or so ago i bought a quite convincing pot here in Bangkok
Are you aware that 5000friend is not a Thai vendor?
Yes, i am aware that this seller is a fraudster from China selling over ebay. I am not stupid. Fake Yixing pots though are sold all over Asia, and i have brought up an example how i fell for a fake pot in a shop here in Bangkok.

This seller on ebay advertises his pots of vintages such as Qing, Republican or Cultural Revolution period, which they are clearly not - knowing how much tea drinkers also in west would love to have pots from those periods, and selling then way overpriced.

The problem for tea drinkers though is that regularly cheap new pots are treated with not the most healthy things in order to make them look used, which is why i would strongly advise not to buy them.

One would be much better off with a cheaper new pot advertised as nothing else than that, be patient, and wait until you go to one of the tea centers in Asia, and get the help of proper experts there to get a real vintage pot. But do expect to pay a lot. And don't buy older pots without expert advice. I cannot think of any antique items where there are more fakes around than in Yixing pots (other than maybe Buddha statues).

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by Chip » Sep 23rd, '12, 22:49

... and yet as I mentioned in another similarly themed topic, this seller has a 100% positive feedback rating.

Doesn't anybody ever give negative feedback???

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Re: Smaller Gong Chun style teapot?

by Alex » Sep 24th, '12, 05:28

Chip wrote:... and yet as I mentioned in another similarly themed topic, this seller has a 100% positive feedback rating.

Doesn't anybody ever give negative feedback???
My thoughts exactly. I'd imagine he's just quick to issue refunds in favour of the buyer to protect that 100% when its necessary.

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