Old Cakes, Anyone Have Info On These?

[Tead Off]

Shanxi Laohao (Shanxi Tea Shop); the other with seal of Yongshun Xuan (Pavilion of Eternal Prosperity).jpg (30.61 KiB) Viewed 1558 times

2.jpg (29.87 KiB) Viewed 1558 times

[tingjunkie]

Jeeze, I've heard of Yixing pots being dug up and robbed from graves, but this is the first I'm seeing puerh cakes like that.

[Tead Off]

Jeeze, I've heard of Yixing pots being dug up and robbed from graves, but this is the first I'm seeing puerh cakes like that.

I found some other cakes like these on the web and they were described as late Qing and wrapped is sheepskin and paper. Maybe it's the same sheepskin they make condoms out of?

[AT333]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

[William]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

[Drax]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

It's a little known fact that the Chinese invented color printing over 1000 years ago. I'm pretty sure I saw that on a blog somewhere...

Actually, they kind of look like postal stamps...

Seriously though, I don't know much about the history of wraps for tea -- sheepskin seems awfully expensive to use to wrap tea. Or is that the point in claiming these are extra special?

[Tead Off]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

lol You've got a sharp eye.
The actual seller of these didn't say they were from Qing. I saw some other cakes on the web, actually bricks, without the color photos , that the attribution was attached to. There was a mention of sheepskin in the description of the wrapper. These are just being offered at an auction with no dating attribution or other hype.

[shudaizi]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

Color photographs? No. Colored photographs, certainly. Labels on these cakes say 1896 and 1934. A colored photographic image would be entirely possible for both dates. Hand-colored photographic postcards (reproduced with color printing technology) were available from the late Qing (1890s) onwards. Often these were produced for imperialist markets (Westerners and Japanese), but not exclusively.

Not sure whether colored postage stamps existed -- I've flipped through several of my books of 明信片 and have found a few bi-color postage stamps, but nothing with multiple colors as these seem to be. There may well have been some though. Would need to see a larger photo of these cake labels to see if these are even postage stamps.

None of that is to say these teas are genuine, but the color image does not disqualify them from being so.

EDIT: The lack of fading is actually consistent with colored photographs. The printing color was more stable than early color photographs were. The good condition postcards from the late Qing I've seen look nearly as vibrant and beautiful as they were new.

[William]

Hmmm...didn't know that they have color photograph during late Qing period. See that color photograph on the tong? And the color didn't even fade. Interesting.

Color photographs? No. Colored photographs, certainly. Labels on these cakes say 1896 and 1934. A colored photographic image would be entirely possible for both dates. Hand-colored photographic postcards (reproduced with color printing technology) were available from the late Qing (1890s) onwards. Often these were produced for imperialist markets (Westerners and Japanese), but not exclusively.

Not sure whether colored postage stamps existed -- I've flipped through several of my books of 明信片 and have found a few bi-color postage stamps, but nothing with multiple colors as these seem to be. There may well have been some though. Would need to see a larger photo of these cake labels to see if these are even postage stamps.

None of that is to say these teas are genuine, but the color image does not disqualify them from being so.

EDIT: The lack of fading is actually consistent with colored photographs. The printing color was more stable than early color photographs were. The good condition postcards from the late Qing I've seen look nearly as vibrant and beautiful as they were new.

Thanks for sharing! Many interesting informations!

[shudaizi]

Thanks for sharing! Many interesting informations!

Sure! I often refer my students to a fabulous online collection of postcards from Taiwan, many colored using the process I am talking about: http://taipics.com

These are during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945), but some are certainly from the last decade and a half of the Qing. Wonderful image resource of Japanese colonialism and Taiwanese history.

EDIT: Apologies to Tead Off for the OT post!

[William]

Thanks for sharing! Many interesting informations!

Sure! I often refer my students to a fabulous online collection of postcards from Taiwan, many colored using the process I am talking about: http://taipics.com

These are during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945), but some are certainly from the last decade and a half of the Qing. Wonderful image resource of Japanese colonialism and Taiwanese history.

EDIT: Apologies to Tead Off for the OT post!

Beautiful postcards!

Thanks for sharing (again ).

[TomVerlain]

the post cards are very cool - thanks for posting.

[Tead Off]

Those postcards of the Savages are great. Super collection.