After last weeks visit to the Beijing un-restored antiques market, several people had asked me for specific recommendations on “which pieces I would buy and why would I buy them.”
I will break this list down into three categories and discuss each in a three part post.
Collectors level: These are often investment worthy classical style pieces which are good materials (such as rosewood), valued in collectors terms and will appreciate in value. Collectors and those with taste for quality should put their money here. This is a tricky category as Westerners and Chinese value things in different terms (see note below).
Quality antiques: In general these are pieces that may be provincial but good value for the money. Either the condition is quite good (such as original paintings), it has a fair amount of age to it or its difficult to now find a similar piece at a reasonable price. Note that these pieces are getting harder and harder to find and will increase in value as well. And this is a difficult category as some pieces here may be a worthwhile investment, even if they don’t fit the strict definition for investment level.
Decorative items: Pieces which may not be significantly worth money but nevertheless charming and have good aesthetic or design value.
Of course its impossible to discuss each piece in detail here and these are just a few of the items which stand out. Nor will you will not find any Huang hua li or Zitan here – those sort of items will never reach these markets and are rare enough inside China as it is. However for those with the means and those who appreciate these are items I would put my money into. As this is a three part post, we will start with the collectors level recommendations.
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