Tuol Tom Pong market, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh is known as one of the most crowded markets in Southeast Asia for real and fake antiques.Thanhnien
Thursday, August 7, 2008
A trader at a market in Cambodia assures his customers they can sell a US$15,000 antique Buddha statuette, made from precious stone, in their own country for a substantial profit.
Tuol Tom Pong market at the outskirt of the country’s capital Phnom Penh is known as one of the most crowded markets in Southeast Asia for real and fake antiques.
Though open for only a few hours a day, mostly in the afternoon, the market is a popular destination for antique collectors from around the world.
An overseas Vietnamese who owns four shops at the market said antiques of all ages here, including thousand year old items, were available at the Tuol Tom Pong market.
Transnational market
Cambodians say the market was the cheapest place in the world to buy antiques.
The market on Street No. 450 has nearly 400 stalls and shops displaying all kinds of antiques from cultures and civilizations around the world.
The most popular commodities are gongs, statues of Buddha, the Hindu god Indra and Apsara nymphs from Hindu and Buddhist mythology as well as ancient weapons from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Many of the antiques were said to be from the thirteen and fourteen centuries or even between 2,000 and 2,500 years of age.
“As long as you find the proper trader, you can buy real antiques of all ages including pottery from the Vietnam’s Ly and Tran dynasties in the 11th to 15th centuries, tea sets from China’s Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC to 256 BC) or Bayon statues from the Angkor Monarchy in Cambodia,” one trader at the market said.
Another trader, Sam Chi, said dozens of Vietnamese antique collectors bought from his shop every week.
Chi said he sold a set of tea cups from Vietnam’s Ly Dynasty (1009-1225) for $20,000 just few days earlier to a collector from Ho Chi Minh City.
“If you want to collect a unique antique from any age, just tell me about two weeks in advance,” he said.
“The traders here have links with transnational antique traders. Most of the antiques sold in Asia flow through this market.”
A Vietnamese who has many shops at the market said most of the underground trade at the market was operated by Vietnamese, with many antiques from Ho Chi Minh City’s “antique street,” Le Cong Kieu.
Fake versus real
Visitors to the market are advised to carefully check products before buying because fake and real items are sold side by side.
The quality of some fakes is so high, sometimes even experts are fooled.
One visitor said a trader had shown him a carving of an Apsara nymph from the eleventh century for $1,200.
However, an expert accompanying him said it was a fake that was worth less than $100.
He also said he overheard a story from two giggling traders at the market, laughing because one had sold a Buddha statue to an Australian visitor for $2,000.
The statue was made in Vietnam’s Nghe An Province and was worth only $30.
A Vietnamese antique collector, Nguyen Ngoc Quang, said he was once tricked into buying a fake Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) tea set for $20,000.
Quang said later verifications found it was an imitation from a workshop in Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province.
But he could not get his money back.
Many of the imitation antiques were made in trade villages in Vietnam, including Hanoi’s Bat Trang pottery village and villages in Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa provinces.
A trader at the market, Ho Trang, said the market had to be restocked with fakes every few weeks.
Trang said the fakes could sell for 10 times what they cost to make.
Source: Tuoi Tre
Thursday, August 7, 2008
A trader at a market in Cambodia assures his customers they can sell a US$15,000 antique Buddha statuette, made from precious stone, in their own country for a substantial profit.
Tuol Tom Pong market at the outskirt of the country’s capital Phnom Penh is known as one of the most crowded markets in Southeast Asia for real and fake antiques.
Though open for only a few hours a day, mostly in the afternoon, the market is a popular destination for antique collectors from around the world.
An overseas Vietnamese who owns four shops at the market said antiques of all ages here, including thousand year old items, were available at the Tuol Tom Pong market.
Transnational market
Cambodians say the market was the cheapest place in the world to buy antiques.
The market on Street No. 450 has nearly 400 stalls and shops displaying all kinds of antiques from cultures and civilizations around the world.
The most popular commodities are gongs, statues of Buddha, the Hindu god Indra and Apsara nymphs from Hindu and Buddhist mythology as well as ancient weapons from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Many of the antiques were said to be from the thirteen and fourteen centuries or even between 2,000 and 2,500 years of age.
“As long as you find the proper trader, you can buy real antiques of all ages including pottery from the Vietnam’s Ly and Tran dynasties in the 11th to 15th centuries, tea sets from China’s Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC to 256 BC) or Bayon statues from the Angkor Monarchy in Cambodia,” one trader at the market said.
Another trader, Sam Chi, said dozens of Vietnamese antique collectors bought from his shop every week.
Chi said he sold a set of tea cups from Vietnam’s Ly Dynasty (1009-1225) for $20,000 just few days earlier to a collector from Ho Chi Minh City.
“If you want to collect a unique antique from any age, just tell me about two weeks in advance,” he said.
“The traders here have links with transnational antique traders. Most of the antiques sold in Asia flow through this market.”
A Vietnamese who has many shops at the market said most of the underground trade at the market was operated by Vietnamese, with many antiques from Ho Chi Minh City’s “antique street,” Le Cong Kieu.
Fake versus real
Visitors to the market are advised to carefully check products before buying because fake and real items are sold side by side.
The quality of some fakes is so high, sometimes even experts are fooled.
One visitor said a trader had shown him a carving of an Apsara nymph from the eleventh century for $1,200.
However, an expert accompanying him said it was a fake that was worth less than $100.
He also said he overheard a story from two giggling traders at the market, laughing because one had sold a Buddha statue to an Australian visitor for $2,000.
The statue was made in Vietnam’s Nghe An Province and was worth only $30.
A Vietnamese antique collector, Nguyen Ngoc Quang, said he was once tricked into buying a fake Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) tea set for $20,000.
Quang said later verifications found it was an imitation from a workshop in Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province.
But he could not get his money back.
Many of the imitation antiques were made in trade villages in Vietnam, including Hanoi’s Bat Trang pottery village and villages in Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa provinces.
A trader at the market, Ho Trang, said the market had to be restocked with fakes every few weeks.
Trang said the fakes could sell for 10 times what they cost to make.
Source: Tuoi Tre
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