Antiques with golden eyes

"Bogutang" is one of the three famous antique shops in the Chuzhou flea market. It mainly deals in porcelain and also sells calligraphy and paintings. Except for these two types of antiques, it neither accepts nor sells other categories of antiques.

All the antiques here are authentic, and you will pay ten for every fake one. It has been thirty years since the store opened in 1982. Bogutang has never once cheated customers by passing it off as genuine. In terms of reputation alone, Bogutang has the best reputation in the entire Jiangnan. There are some of the best antique shops in the province.

Of course, Bogutang also sells antique porcelain, but it sells it at an imitation price and will not be sold as antiques.

In fact, Shen Yu's first choice for a big customer like Gu Qingqing who comes to his door should be to introduce him to Mr. Li's "Hanlin Pavilion". It is natural for business to take care of its own people.

But when Shen Yu came to buy antiques, Mr. Li must have given him the cost price, not even the cost price.

The last time Shen Yu wanted to go to Mr. Li's "Hanlin Pavilion" to buy two old items from Yatangzhen store, Li Hanlin arranged for his son and grandson to drive in person and directly sent Shen Yu five antiques.

A scroll with imitation of Juran's landscape paintings by Lan Ying and Uncle Lan Tian, ​​the masters of the landscape martial arts school, is worth two million.

A Tianhuang stone animal button square seal from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty worth 1.8 million.

A blue and white lotus pattern plate from Jiaqing official kiln worth millions.

A Ming Dynasty huanghuali rounded corner cabinet worth 300,000 yuan.

Finally, there is a set of rare ancient coins from the Song Dynasty, worth 600,000.

Shen Yu was confused at the time. The total market price of these five antiques was around 6 million, but Li Hanlin only wanted 3 million. He should wait until Shen Yu sold it later, which would be equivalent to giving Shen Yu nearly 3 million for nothing. .

This frightened Shen Yu so much that he locked the door of the store, and an angry Li Hanlin chased him for three days with a cane.

So Shen Yu simply stopped going, and Mr. Li would lose money if he went.

Many people think that there are not many genuine items in antique stores. In fact, this is an illusion. There are genuine items in antique stores, and there are many of them.

But the price is also very expensive. For example, the price of antiques in Bogutang is 20% or even 50% higher than the market price. If it is just to make money by changing hands, it will definitely be useless in a short time, and it may even cost money.

Although the overall market price of antiques is rising, it will not rise to 150,000 or even 200,000 in the second half of the year if you buy it for 100,000 in the first half. The appreciation of antiques requires a process.

But it's different when it comes to giving as a gift. For example, if someone like Gu Qingqing, whose family is not short of money, spends tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions on a birthday gift, it's just a drop in the bucket.

To put it bluntly, the objects in antique shops are sold to people who are not short of money. People who are short of money or even a little rich cannot play with antiques.

For many rich people, spending money to buy what they need immediately is their first choice. As for whether it is expensive or not, how much is not a problem, or it is not an issue that needs to be considered at that time.

"Brother Yu, does this antique shop really have the Qing Dynasty official kiln porcelain that my second brother mentioned?"

"Of course, there may not be official kilns in the Ming Dynasty, but there are 100 official kilns in the Qing Dynasty. If you are lucky, you might be able to pick one up. By the way, do you want to ask what official kiln porcelain is in the next sentence?"< /p>

Gu Qingqing: "Brother Yu, how do you know?"

"Because your eyes have already told me, as long as you want to ask questions, your eyes will always blink twice."

"Hey, why don't I know? No one has ever told me about this?" Gu Qingqing looked at Shen Yu seriously, her eyes full of confusion.

Shen Yu smiled: "Of course you don't know, because I was also deceived."

"Brother Yu, you are annoying." Gu Qingqing said he was disgusted, but his heart was full of joy. At least it meant that his brother Yu liked talking to him more and more.

"Okay, let me briefly explain to you what official kiln porcelain is. Official kiln is simply a porcelain kiln run by the government.

"Then the imperial court dispatched officials or eunuchs as pottery supervisors to produce practical porcelain, display porcelain, and various ritual vessels for the royal family. The official kilns of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all produced in the porcelain capital.

"After the porcelain in the official kiln is fired, it must first be sent to the palace for the emperor's control. The royal family also has to eat, and they have to use part of the official kiln to make practical porcelain.

"There are also some porcelains on display for viewing and viewing, and the rest are used as gifts to the royal family or officials during festivals and festivals.

"The reason why official kiln porcelain is valuable is that the official kiln only wants the objects to be exquisite, regardless of the cost of labor. As long as the emperor needs it, it will be fired no matter how much it costs. The good ones will be sent to the palace, and the bad ones will be broken and not allowed to flow into the people. .

"In ancient times, official kiln porcelain could not be used by ordinary people, let alone ordinary people, even officials could not use it unless it was a reward.

"Selling official kiln porcelain privately is even a capital crime. Even if the pottery supervisor gives away a few official kiln porcelain without authorization, it is also a crime of beheading.

"In the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, even if the official kilns had defects or were damaged during transportation, they had to be recorded in books, and the management was very strict.

"It wasn't until the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty that this was slightly loosened, allowing porcelain in stock in official kilns to be sold for silver, so that wealthy families could use official kiln porcelain.

"That's probably what it means. If you still don't understand, just remember that official kiln porcelain is rare, exquisite, and valuable. Okay, it's too hot here, let's go in quickly."

Arriving at the door, Shen Yu was about to push the door open. The electric glass door of the store opened automatically. In an instant, the air-conditioning blew out of the store, which lifted Shen Yu's spirits.

The store is very spacious and decorated in an antique style. The eye-catching ancient shelves are filled with various large and small porcelains, and the walls are covered with calligraphy, paintings and calligraphy from different dynasties.

What makes Shen Yu a little strange is that the store is very quiet, even inexplicably quiet.

There are not only no customers in Bogutang now, but also no shop assistants. There is only an old man in a silk shirt wearing spectacles sitting behind a red lacquered writing desk, holding a pen in one hand and skillfully dialing the abacus in the other.

Seeing someone coming into the store, the old man put down the pen in his hand and slowly stood up, "What do the two guests need?"

"Old sir, we want to take a look at the porcelain, but is your store still open?" Shen Yu pointed to the empty store and asked in a slightly doubtful tone.

The old man in the silk shirt was stunned at first, but he immediately responded, "Young man, you are saying that my shop looks deserted without a waiter, right?"

Shen Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, why are you the only one in such a big shop?"

The old man in the silk shirt smiled bitterly: "Didn't our Bogutang open a new branch in the Antique City? It opened today, and everyone went over to help.

"Because of the event, even some old customers have gone there to look at the items. It makes this old store seem to be closing. I don't blame you for being surprised."

As he spoke, the old man in silk shirt stood up and walked out from behind the writing desk. He walked to a simple Eight Immortals table and poured a cup of tea for Shen Yu and Gu Qingqing respectively.

After the aroma of tea floated out, the old man in silk shirt put the cup on the wooden tray and brought it over. At the same time, he called Shen Yu and Gu Qingqing to sit down on the sofa.

The two thanked them and took it. Shen Yu spoke again: "Is your branch opening today? Why didn't I know?"

"My little friend, have you been to the antique city?" The old man in silk shirt was not too surprised by Shen Yu's somewhat rash words. Now the antique city is even more famous than the flea market for foreign tourists.

"To tell you the truth, I have a small shop in the Antique City. I came out just over two hours ago. I neither heard the salute nor saw the congratulatory banners outside the Antique City, so it was a little strange." Shen Yu Explained calmly.

"Oh, that's it. As my friends said, there was no salute at the opening of the store, and no congratulatory banners from other colleagues were hung up.

"In the final analysis, it's just a branch. There's no need to make such a big fuss. It would appear that Bogutang is going to the antique city to steal the jobs of its peers."

"You are really a leader in the industry, I admire you." Shen Yu admired me sincerely. This is the magnanimity of a big store, and it is very thoughtful.

When he opened his own shop, he rented an electronic salute and fired sixty-six shots, which symbolized good fortune.

"Since we are colleagues, let me just go shopping and get it myself if you are willing. I am Liu Dongyang, the chief appraiser of Bogutang. If you need anything, you can call me at any time."

"Thank you sir, please do me a favor."

"Everyone who comes here is a guest. How dare we say thank you to a guest who takes care of our business?" The old man in silk shirt smiled and clasped his fists, then turned around and went to the writing desk to continue dialing the abacus.

Shen Yu also led Gu Qingqing to watch in front of the nearest book shelf.

"Brother Yu, these porcelains are very beautiful. How come they only cost a few thousand dollars? Are they high imitation porcelain?"

Shen Yu followed Gu Qingqing's line of sight and saw that an ancient shelf made of rosewood was filled with various blue and white porcelain vases imitating the third dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, including plum vases, gourd vases, celestial sphere vases, jade pot spring vases, lantern vases, and mallets. There are all kinds of traditional blue and white vessels such as vases and ear-piercing vases.

Under the soft light, the blue and white porcelain vases are rich in color and delicate and white, making people instantly want to hum the lyrics of "Azure Waiting for Misty Rain".

Shen Yu looked at the price tag, which was usually around two thousand to five thousand yuan.

Seeing this, Shen Yu shook his head, "This is not a high imitation. As the name suggests, a high imitation is a highly similar imitation. Its texture, glaze, painting, size, and weight must be at least 9% the same as the original. Only when there are more than ten similarities can it be called high imitation porcelain, and these porcelains are far from reaching that level."

"Isn't this a high imitation? Oh, if I were to do it myself, even if people say these are genuine official kiln porcelain, I won't have any doubts. Fortunately, Brother Yu is with me." Gu Qingqing put down the tea in her hand, Said quite emotionally.

"The market price of blue and white porcelain handed down from the third generation of the Qing Dynasty is hundreds of thousands to millions, and some even reach tens of millions. It is definitely impossible to make a high imitation of official kiln blue and white porcelain for two to three thousand yuan.

"As far as painting skills are concerned, without a master who has been painting for 20 or 30 years, it is impossible to depict the complicated patterns of the official kilns.

“The quality of the soil requires even more effort. Let’s not talk about the quality of the products produced by different soils. Bottles of the same size will have different weights when held in the hand. An experienced collector can tell the authenticity just by weighing the weight.< /p>

"With kiln clay, hand drawing also requires decades of master craftsmanship. Also glazing, the thickness of the glaze and the degree of color presentation are all very difficult.

"The most important thing is to control the heat, how long to burn, and when to leave the kiln. Let alone half an hour, even if the difference is ten minutes, the effect will be different, so making a high-imitation porcelain is extremely difficult. ."

"Oh, Brother Yu, you know so much."

Shen Yu couldn't help but rolled his eyes and played the piano together, but he didn't dare to say this.