Is anyone on your gift list a tea lover? For the first time Sotheby’s will auction off rare Chinese teas and tea implements. The online auction will be held in Hong Kong from Wednesday through Dec. 16. The teas, more than 20 lots of them, are all puerh, a type of black or green tea from the Yunnan province that is fermented or cooked and is usually compressed into cakes or bricks, often decorative, making it easier to transport if you’re traveling the silk road. Puerh mellows with age, is prized by connoisseurs and can cost several hundred dollars for a slab. Some of the puerh in the auction are 100 years old and are expected to fetch up to $150,000. A companion auction is devoted to rare tea wares.
Tea Treasures: Rare Vintage and Premium Puerh, the Inaugural Tea Sale; and Echoes of Fragrance: Tea Culture from the Tang to the Qing Dynasties, sothebys.com/HK1164.
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