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An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:38 am
by ShuShu
This peculiar teapot was gifted to my grandparents years ago by a Chinese diplomat. Does anyone know what exactly is it? And whether it is really an antique
(Porcelain and metal/silver)




Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:13 am
by Hmm
My thoughts are that the eyes are a bit too expressive to be at least 100 years old. Eyes like that didn't really appear until at least the start PRC era.

Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:15 am
by OldWaysTea
It is interesting. To me it looks like a silver plated brass pot with a hand painted ceramic panel. How does it work? The spout seems to be part of the lid?

Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:49 am
by Chadrinkincat
Looks more like sake/rice wine warmer than teapot. My guess is it's modern tourist souvenir.

Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:31 pm
by ShuShu
OldWaysTea wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:15 am
It is interesting. To me it looks like a silver plated brass pot with a hand painted ceramic panel. How does it work? The spout seems to be part of the lid?
I'm not sure. It's like a tiny silver pot inside a porcelain container.

Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:36 pm
by steanze
I would not bet on it being antique, although I am not sure. Looks like pewter.
This type of pot, often in larger size, was traditionally used to keep the liquid in the inner pot warm for longer, by pouring hot water in the external container.

Re: An antique gift

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:11 pm
by tealifehk
Looks like leaded pewter: do not use. The square/circle thing makes it look like it's from Factory 1! And the phone number is from Wuxi, so looks like it was made in Jiangsu. Could be 60s, which would make it an antique (50 years or older), but I doubt it based on the packaging. Pretty, but probably not something you want to use for actual consumption because of the lead concern. Not sure what its intended use is though. Baijiu? No, fancy pewter baijiu vessels don't seem to exist. It does seem to be made for tea service!

    Re: An antique gift

    Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:55 pm
    by Chadrinkincat
    This is a modern sake warmer. It's same thing. https://www.takaski.com/product/kansuke ... ffebfa06f6

    Re: An antique gift

    Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:41 am
    by Bok
    I have seen quite a few of these things (without porcelain and a lot cruder make), mostly souvenirs from Southeast Asia: Singapore, Malaysia etc.
    Yours seems to be better made, although I agree that the painting style does not look old, something odd, non-Chinese about it.

    Re: An antique gift

    Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:20 am
    by tealifehk
    Chadrinkincat wrote:
    Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:55 pm
    This is a modern sake warmer. It's same thing. https://www.takaski.com/product/kansuke ... ffebfa06f6
    Cool, so it's a Chinese-made sake warmer! I was thinking baijiu but that didn't make sense.