Funnel, Plate and Spoon Set

[George]

This is a really great set. Priced way out of my league, but wanted to share it.

eBay Link.....

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

George,
   It is a nice set, though modern, NOT antique - YF Yang, in 1968, had  about 100 sets like this made,  which started selling at US$45 each. By late 1973, a set was selling for US$450! I didn't know this,  having received an out of date  YF Yang & Co. catalogue from Michael Kaynes-Klitz of the Hong Kong Snuff Bottle Group, listing a set for US$50.
  I contacted Mr. Yang in Sept. 1973, explaining that I was 16 1/2, and had been collecting snuff bottles since just before my bar mitzva in Feb.1970. I wrote that I wanted to buy a set, and realised it would have gone up in price, but was prepared to pay whatever he quoted.  
  I got back a letter saying he was sending me one as a Christmas gift; I replied that I couldn't accept a Christmas gift, being Jewish, but could accept a Hanuka gift. He wrote back that as a Chinese Muslim, he didn't mind whether I received it as a Christmas gift or a Hanuka gift! I gave my set to Jerry L. a few years ago (I think; I know I gave it away), but I have a very fine antique ivory snuff funnel, much better than the modern one in the set. I received it as a gift from Belle Schoen - it had been her father's (Martin Schoen, the famous collector from the 1930s to his death in 1963).
   I give out snuff in the Synagogue on Shabbat and on Holy Days. Religious Jews who are addicted to tobacco (cigarettes or cigars), but are not allowed to smoke on Shabbat etc., take snuff to get them over the period when they can't light up (forbidden to light or pass flame on Shabbat, etc.). I usually use a folded piece of card (like a place card) to fill the bottles I give out the snuff from. It's a lot easier.
Joey

[rpfstoneman]

George,

This set I think was on Ebay just a few months ago, and went for just over $400.  It may have sold for $425, but I just do not recall.  I do know I was bidding on it when it was last listed and was one of the few under-bidders.  Pretty sure it is the same set.  Interesting that it popped up on Ebay again so soon.

Charll

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Charll,
   100 sets were made, 43 years ago; a lot would have gone to the USA and Canada, since YF Yang had a lot of customers there then. Are there any specific identifying marks (like an unusual-shaped stain on the box, etc.) to help identify it as the same set? If not, could it not be that an owner of a set, or someone who'd bought one, decided to sell his after seeing how well the other sold? I'm just playing devil's advocate; it could well be the same set. Since it is all ivory, and no CITES certificate I saw mentioned, is it not a problem to sell ivory objects today?
    I remember my friend Ted Adameck, who'd been an Asian Antiques dealer 30 years in Hawaii, first moved to Las Vegas, NV; then back to Honolulu; now he's in Santa Barbara, CA; while in Las Vegas (or as he liked to call it, 'Lost Wages'!), he went to DFW or Houston, for an Antiques Fair.
    Before the Fair opening, he bought some Ivory from other dealers (have you heard the one about the 3 antique dealers shipwrecked on a desert island? They did very well); Fisheries and Wildlife, were promptly at his stand, confiscating the ivory as having been brought illegally across State lines, since they stated he'd arrived from NV  with the ivory objects (and also with Margaret Polak of blessed memory in tow; she was there to help at the fair),  when the two dealers he'd bought from, delivered the receipts from his purchases. Even with the receipts, which proved he'd not, at least at that point, transferred ANYTHING forbidden across State lines, he had a hassle with these guys. 4 pieces he ended up selling, making some profit; as previously agreed, he returned the 5th piece, so as not to do Interstate Commerce with restricted goods.
   Joey