DANIEL TAY

Founder, Cat & the Fiddle; Old Seng Choong; Foodgnostic

Within the quiet confines of his tea room at his private residence, Daniel

Tay brews tea in a pot with a patinated surface that softly glows. “It’s a puerh tea from the 1970s,” he discloses. Sitting back, he takes a few moments to relish its flavour in silence. A smile of satisfaction breaks across his face as he enthuses: “You get a very different sensation when you brew well-aged vintage tea in antique Yixing teapots.”

It was in fact Tay’s relentless pursuit of the most appropriate tea-brewing vessels that led him to antique Yixing teapots. “I first started buying them about 10 years ago. At the time, it was not a serious hobby yet,” he says. “Gradually, I found myself buying more antique Yixing teapots and admiring the beauty and quality of the clay and workmanship.”

Tay’s rate of acquiring teapots may have slowed in the last two to three years as he’s been using the time to focus on his current collection, but when an attractive offer presents itself, the 50-year-old is not one to pass it up. Just last year, Christie’s UK put up a lot featuring an elegant Yixing teapot decorated with fine reticulated panels on the sides and lid, surmounted by a lid knob fashioned in the shape of a squirrel. Taking advantage of the fact that the Emperor Kangxi-era pot from the 17th and 18th century was going for below what it would normally cost, Tay purchased it at a price he found satisfactory. “It’s rare to come across such offerings, and I really like how unique it looks and feels.”

At present, he is happy with a concise and carefully assembled collection of about 50 teapots. His estimation of its value is conservative – at about $10,000 – although the actual market value of some items may be much higher.

Tay believes it is important for collectors to buy at the right time and at the right price. Part of the fun, he says, is in treasure hunting and collecting at attractive prices.“But the greatest joy of owning antique Yixing teapots is in admiring their beauty and using them for tea,” says Tay. “I don’t necessarily buy them as investment pieces, but I do see them as individual works of art with a functional purpose. It is true that many pieces gain value over time, but the greatest reward is in using them and seeing them develop better patina. That, above all, gives me immense satisfaction.”