Antiques with golden eyes

Shen Yu watched every move of Ximen Hou in his eyes. He paused for a moment, adjusted his breathing slightly, and continued: "The southern jade craftsmen and the northern jade craftsmen, if you delve deeper into the carving techniques, they are quite different. Each has its own merits.

"Nanfang Gong focuses more on the carving of small pieces of jade, and what he pays attention to is delicacy. No matter what kind of utensil, there is absolutely no ambiguity in the details, and it must be carved delicately, elegantly, and perfectly.

“Even the veins of flower leaves must be painted clearly and realistically, as if the real leaves are right in front of you.

“The most famous among them is undoubtedly the ‘Zigang brand’.

"Song Yingxing of the Ming Dynasty left such a very authoritative comment in his book "Tiangong Kaiwu" on pearls and jade: 'Although good jade gathers the capital's masters, skillful workmanship surpasses Su County'.

"From this sentence, we can easily see that in the Ming Dynasty, most high-quality jade materials were continuously transported to the capital. After all, the capital is at the feet of the emperor and is the political, economic, and cultural center of the entire country, where high-ranking officials Dignitaries gathered together, and they had great demand for objects such as jade that symbolized status and taste, and they also had strong spending power.

"However, if we simply talk about the exquisiteness of the carving process, the southern jade craftsmen are even better with their unique skills and ingenious creativity."

Shen Yu sighed slightly, not knowing whether he was happy or sighing, "However, time has passed and the situation today is very different from that in ancient times. Many modern jade carvers draw on the strengths of others and are no longer limited to the inherent styles of the northern and southern schools, but combine the two schools. Even more jade carving techniques from more schools are integrated into one.

“Through this kind of innovation and integration, they have created many unique works, which are in no way inferior to the masterpieces handed down from ancient times in terms of exquisite craftsmanship and artistic appeal.

"The same is true for this statue of King Peacock Ming!"

Everyone was originally immersed in Shen Yu's wonderful explanation of the jade carving craftsmanship of the Northern and Southern Schools, and they listened with great interest.

At this moment, everyone looked startled when they heard Shen Yu's last words.

You know, apart from the Gu family's servants who serve tea and arrange fruits and cakes, every one of them in the reception room is a smart person.

Naturally, he immediately understood the meaning of Shen Yu's words.

Shen Yu was obviously saying that the Peacock King Ming statue brought by Marquis Ximen was not an antique treasure from the Ming Dynasty, but a modern item.

Modern products don't sound very good.

What sounds better is a piece of modern art.

Ximen Hou's face instantly became extremely ugly, and a trace of unnoticeable panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up.

He first smiled twice at Gu Zhengyan, a big money boss, and then immediately said in a threatening tone, "Young friend Shen, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't talk nonsense! I put a lot of effort into this statue of King Ming. What I just found is a real antique from the Ming Dynasty. How did it come to you and become a modern thing?

"You have to be careful before speaking, otherwise... haha!"

Shen Yu just glanced at him lightly, with a very firm confidence in his eyes, "Senior Ximen, don't be so excited, this junior is just talking about things!

"I have been in the antique business for so many years. Although I can't say that I have never seen it before, I am still somewhat sure about this statue. If you don't believe it, you can invite other experts to come with you. Tasting.”

Ximen Hou's voice became even colder, "Why?"

Shen Yu was waiting for his words, "Although your statue is exquisitely crafted, some details reveal modern craftsmanship that cannot be concealed.

"For example, in the repair of the base, the materials and techniques used are obviously different from those in ancient times. It was obviously done with the help of modern tools and materials."

Marquis Ximen suddenly became nervous, but he still managed to remain calm and asked immediately: "What modern materials?"

Shen Yu smiled and said calmly: "It's not a high-tech thing, it's just some imported strong glue! Well, the colorless and odorless kind."

After speaking, he took a photo of the base of the statue with a magnifying glass. There was indeed a slight trace of glue on the base.

But unless Shen Yu points it out, even if you use a magnifying glass to look at it, it can easily be mistaken for a little dirt left by the erosion of time.

You know, in daily life, mobile phones will be covered with a layer of dust after just being left for a few days. According to Ximen Hou, this statue has been circulated for hundreds of years.

Just think about it, the statue has gone through countless changes over the years and passed through the hands of different collectors. It is quite normal for it to be stained with some dirt.

It can be said that if no one mentions it specifically, ninety-nine out of a hundred people will turn a blind eye to it.

When Shen Yu pointed out the problem, a flash of hatred flashed in Hou Ximen's eyes.

Blocking someone's way of making money is tantamount to killing his parents. How can he not be angry or resentful in his heart?

So I have to refute it right away.

Lin Qingzhi coughed slightly on the side and said: "Shop Manager Ximen, Xiao Shen has always been strict and fair in antique appraisal. Don't rush to refute, listen to what he has to say first!"

Gu Zhengyan also nodded, "Yes, Brother Ximen, Xiao Shen may be mistaken, but you may also be mistaken!

"If this statue is indeed a modern work of art, we have to accept the reality. After all, it is common to suffer losses in the antique shop."

Although Ximen Hou felt unwilling and reluctant in his heart, he did not dare to refute wantonly in front of Lin Qingzhi and Gu Zhengyan. He could only swallow his anger and said bravely: "Okay, even if there is glue, then it will It is most likely that the statue was accidentally broken before and then repaired.

"This shouldn't be directly related to the authenticity of the antique itself, right? Just like a porcelain bottle, if a hole is accidentally dropped, it can only be classified as a remnant at best, and it can never be determined to be a fake because of this. "

Shen Yu seemed not to have heard such far-fetched sophistry from Lord Ximen. He slowly lowered the statue of King Ming with a calm expression. Then he picked up the bright flashlight that had been prepared from the table beside him.

Pressing the switch, Shen Yu gently placed it in front of the Buddha statue. After the bright light hit the statue, Shen Yu gently clicked on the middle part of the statue. "Look at the color of this jade, the upper half." Is the first half different from the second half?"

After everyone heard this, they all fixed their eyes on Shen Yu's finger.

Under the strong light of a flashlight, the color differences of the entire statue were immediately clearly revealed.

The upper part of the jade is as warm and moist as mutton fat, white and yellow, which is the color of classic mutton fat white jade.

In other words, this is genuine mutton-fat jade.

However, when my eyes moved down to the lower half, I found that although the white color it presented was also white, this white color seemed a bit stiff and unnatural.

How to put it, it's like Li Gui met Li Kui. Compared with the warm and charming color of the upper part, the lower part of the jade flesh has a special luster that is unique to new objects.

Totally out of place!

Shen Yu then placed the magnifying glass at the intersection of colors to examine carefully.

At this time, everyone was surprised to find that the body of King Ming and the peacock were actually stuck together. Under the magnification of the magnifying glass, the gap between the joints was clearly visible, and they were clearly two pieces of jade!

At this time, Mr. Wang, who had been sitting silently beside him, suddenly asked: "Xiao Shen, when you appraised this statue of King Ming just now, you did not use a magnifying glass to appraise it, you just looked at it visually. How did you find the problem?"