Cyber Museum

Over the span of 30 years, I have collected quite a number of Yixing teapots and other artifacts. As I know there are people in the world who share my passion for the Zisha wares, not because they are good for brewing tea, but because these Yixing teapots have a culture in their own right. From collecting the teapots, besides admiring their aesthetic forms, one can also study and appreciate art; the creative designs and artistic thinking that the potters possess in deriving at their masterpieces of artwork. Hence, I set up this museum in cyber place to showcase my teapot collection and share some of the rare and prize pieces of Yixing artifacts in my collection.

When I acquire teapots, I look for three types of teapots that interest me. First, the antique teapots of the past; second, the not-so-old teapots that were made in the 60s to 80s; and third, teapots made by known potters (especially craftsmasters and senior craftsmasters' work). In buying teapots, one has to be extra careful not to buy any fake ones or one that is artificially tampered to make it looked old.

I was fortunate in a way as I started collecting teapots in the late 1980s where the market was not yet saturated with fakes and imitates. Some of the craftsmasters had not yet become famous, mostly were still apprentices or trainees and their teapots were very affordable. I remembered during one teapot exhibition, the organisers brought in Gu Zingzhou's teapot which was selling at $20000. Everybody who went to the exhibition was amazed at such high price for a teapot to brew tea. But by today's standard, Gu's teapot can easily fetch millions of dollars. Other craftsmasters' pots were selling in the region of thousands of dollars. Being a beginner, I would only eye for pots that cost below a thousand dollar. Then there was the joy of treasure hunting in the open market where teapots made by known potters were selling at far below market rate. In those days, you won't be surprise to see someone using a magnifying glass to examine the potter's name engraved at the bottom of the teapot when he was scrutinising all the teapots on display in the shop. I did the same thing and was able to uncover some hidden gem. This is called 'treasure hunting' and the joy was beyond description when one finds  treasure among the trash.

With the people becoming more affluent, collecting zisha wares has become a popular international hobby/past-time (or investment), the market is full of fakes and imitates as unscrupulous businessmen capitalised on this craze and attempt to make quick money by introducing a lot of fakes in the market. Be careful if you are buying teapots for investment. Good and famous teapots won't come cheap by today's standard.

I have started a cyber museum where no entrance fees is collected. If you like to view my collection, please go to my cyber museum at alansmuseum.blogspot.sg. I will continue to post the teapots in my collection whenever I am free.

One of the postings in my cyber museum