A new old Yixing teapot.. ---> A SHAM

[oldmanteapot]

Sadly, it's a definite sham. But all of us will have to pay our dues or 'tuition fees' in due course. I too have bought many shams along the way.

I would soak it in a cleaning agent even before considering doing anything with it.

I've seen my fair share of old dirty Yixing teapots, even those that are over 100 years old and one which was supposedly taken from a grave as it carried a really bad odour in the pot. But this one fits a scam of "making a new look old". It could also have been sitting on the shelve for (God knows) many moons, thus explaining the layer of white dust.

Cheers!

[Baku]

Well.. thank you all for your comments.

I think this is an excellent example of an unintentional (I believe) fraud.
I stumbled across this teapot running errands in city center as it's displayed in the window of a well known shop, and it caught my eye. I was misinformed by an inexpert seller, trusted her (being myself not skilled enough in old yixing teapot - yeah, my fault) and finally got a phony & its worthless certificate.
So easy to bring home a fake and potentially dangerous, unhealthy (maybe just to handle as Darwin suggested) item!

The good news: this morning I called the seller, explained the issue and clarified it... so I'll have my money back, and that's fine.
Anyway, I really hope she's going to deepen the whole thing with her supplier, in order to avoid any further, similar obnoxious (and illegal) affairs.

Regarding replicas just a final note. I'm not against them if made using harmless, nontoxic materials and not intended for cheating.


Below you can see the true face of this teapot after a brief wash with hot water. Sorry for the poor quality of the pic, but I haven't my camera with me.

thanks again for sharing precious info.

baku

[tingjunkie]

...and one which was supposedly taken from a grave as it carried a really bad odour in the pot.

Note to self: Never ask omt to source a teapot for me.

[Oni]

I would recomend sticking to reputable vendors when buying yixing, I am very skeptical and cautious when encountering new vendors, I trust yunnan sourcing, nadacha, houde, zishateapot.

[betta]

...and one which was supposedly taken from a grave as it carried a really bad odour in the pot.

Note to self: Never ask omt to source a teapot for me.

Hm.. a student told me that from chinese POV, items buried together with deceased were used to be the best they could afford during their life.
So it might be of high quality and it has been attracting grave thieves from all age to dig and rob these graves.
Moreover the foul smell doesn't necessarily a result from being buried together with the deceased. Sometimes these items are buried at separate chambers from the main grave hall or at least apart from the coffin.
In any case, I hope you managed to get rid of that foul odor pot.

[wyardley]

Well one of the best things about pots from graves (at least in terms of old ones) is that they can often more easily be reliably dated than other pots. One of the books of Yixing I have is almost entirely pictures of pots from Ming and Qing dynasty graves.

[Tead Off]

Well one of the best things about pots from graves (at least in terms of old ones) is that they can often more easily be reliably dated than other pots. One of the books of Yixing I have is almost entirely pictures of pots from Ming and Qing dynasty graves.

Reliable dating in this day and age requires TL (Thermoluminescence) testing of samples drilled from the clay body. Most of us would never do that so supervised excavation is about the only other reliable dating method.

[MarshalN]

In the first few pics you can see the black colour on the pot was streaky, and there was brown underneath. That's almost an instant sign of someone painting black on the pot to make it look older/dirtier than it is. Real patina of any kind is not streaky like that. They can be patchy (i.e. some parts are darker/shinier than others) but never streaky. Streaky = bad.

You should also touch the pot when it looks like that. If it feels greasy -- more reason not to buy it.

[edkrueger]

Good advise. One more thing to add, don't buy it if the clay isn't any good. An old pot made of bad clay is just as useless as a new pot made of bad clay.

[MarshalN]

Ed -- how do you know what's a good clay?