Antique Dealer

Chapter 260 A Painting
Generally speaking, the business of an antique shop must also depend on the flow of customers. If there are more customers on holidays, the business may be better.

Therefore, as long as there is no urgent matter to deal with, Tang Mingshan and Hu Jue will definitely come to the store on weekends.Fang Hao also told them before that they can rest on Monday and Wednesday. Tang Mingshan rests on Monday and Hu Jue rests on Wednesday. They can switch between two weeks. If there is something to do, they can coordinate freely.

However, both Tang Mingshan and Hu Jue said that they are relaxed in the store, and it is more lively here, so it doesn't matter if they take a rest or not.

Of course, Fang Hao will not change his mind, it is their business whether to rest or not.

Fang Hao's Juhui Zhaishikou is good, and some people who travel to and from Panjiayuan will also notice it.Some people didn't know that Juhuizhai opened yesterday, and noticed that Juhuizhai, which had been closed for a long time, finally opened today, and couldn't help but walk in curiously to have a look.

Speaking of which, the antique shop opened yesterday, and some customers came in, but Fang Hao explained in advance that only those who accepted the invitation could go to the second floor fair.

From the very beginning, Fang Hao defined the fair as the benefit of his friends, and besides, anyone can participate, so his exhibits are not enough.

Because of this, some people were dissatisfied and said some unpleasant things.

Closer to home, Fang Hao’s display on the first floor is all genuine products, and a contract will be signed when purchasing, and the fake one will pay three. Of course, with such a guarantee, the price must be more expensive.

This is also Fang Hao's deliberate intention. Originally, the store is full of genuine products, which is enough to attract people's attention. If the price is still cheaper than other places, it will cut off other sellers' money. Don't let them be attacked by groups. Of.

Of course, the prices of the goods in the store are all within a reasonable range. He said in front of everyone yesterday that if he wants to contribute to the maintenance of the antique market, he must not slap himself in the face.

Because the price of things is not cheap, only an antique was sold in the morning.

In addition, the pawn business has also opened. Someone pawned a Patek Philippe 5396G. According to the quality of the watch, it was absolutely 20 yuan.

If it is a job, the mortgaged money must be lower, which is also a way to avoid risks.

Just like in ancient times, in the pawn tickets issued by pawnshops, the good things of customers are deliberately written poorly.

For example, gold jewelry should be written as "light as silver", jade should be written as "powder stone"; It must be written as "shattered board"; as for clothes, it must be written as "ragged"; and so on.

This is written mainly to avoid the risk of missing hands. As for clothing and leather goods, the current period of pawnshops may be as long as two or three years at most, and there is indeed a risk of rot and deterioration, and the risk of rats biting insects.When the guests come to the door, they can't settle the accounts.

After the customer who mortgaged the Patek Philippe left, someone came over and said he wanted to mortgage a Land Rover. Fang Hao declined the other party. He can only mortgage artworks here, and it is more convenient to estimate and keep them. There is a special place for safekeeping. If something goes wrong, it is too troublesome to be responsible.

If the artwork is mortgaged, what should I do if I encounter dirt?In fact, there are already relevant provisions in laws and regulations.When pawnshops accept pawns, they must check the source of the pawn and relevant supporting materials, and shall not accept stolen goods or items of unknown origin.

As for the complex field of antiques, a disclaimer is generally signed to avoid risks.

"Boss, where is this watch?" Accountant Li Xinli asked after registering.

Fang Hao replied: "Give me the watch first. In a few days, the staff who installed the insurance equipment will come over. After the installation is completed, all the pawned things will be placed there."

The previous owner, Lu Zheng, also designed the location of the safe on the second floor, but because the installation of the equipment was more expensive, he felt that the safe downstairs was enough, and he was not in a hurry to install it.

Fang Hao had contacted a company specializing in the production of insurance equipment before, but things like insurance doors needed to be customized, and it would take a while to come and install them.

After the installation is complete, the pawned things are placed in the vault.

Soon, it was almost noon, and Fang Hao was about to call to order takeaway, when a middle-aged man came in outside.

"Is your boss here?"

Fang Hao looked at the brocade box of calligraphy and painting in the middle-aged man's hand, and replied, "Hello, I am the boss here."

"Are you the boss?" The middle-aged man showed a suspicious expression seeing that Fang Hao was so young.

Fang Hao nodded: "What's the matter?"

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Do you accept paintings here?"

Fang Hao smiled and said, "This store has a pawn business. As long as your paintings are valuable, you can definitely accept them."

The middle-aged man waved his hand: "I want to sell, not to pawn."

Fang Hao said: "Pawns are divided into live pawns and dead pawns. Dead pawns mean selling. As for the price of pawns, it must be negotiated with us. If it is low, you can just sell it."

The middle-aged man is still not happy: "Pawning doesn't sound good."

Tang Mingshan said: "It's also for sale, what else is good or bad? You won't sell this painting and still talk about it?"

Fang Hao took it and said: "Besides, the pawn business is very standardized, and there will be corresponding tickets. I can accept it with confidence, and you can rest assured that you can take the money. If you don't want to die, you can also choose to live. It only needs to support a certain fee and interest, and the short-term cost is not high.”

"How much is your interest?"

"5‰."

The middle-aged man calculated it and was a little surprised: "Isn't it only 6% that year? Is it so cheap?"

Fang Hao said, "There is also a handling fee."

The middle-aged man clapped his hands: "I said, the handling fee shouldn't be cheap, right?"

Fang Hao replied: "According to relevant regulations, the current monthly comprehensive fee rate is capped at 42‰. This fee can be changed through negotiation according to your pawning time. The longer the pawning time, the higher the fee."

The middle-aged man calculated silently again, and shouted: "My dear boy! If the interest is included, the interest will not exceed [-]% a year. Isn't this usury?"

Fang Hao said seriously: "Sir, don't talk nonsense. We all act in accordance with the relevant laws, and the monthly interest is 5‰. How can it be a usury?"

"Cut, it's just a change of name." The middle-aged man curled his lips: "Besides, if you pawn, the things will still be on your side, I can't worry about it."

"Sir, you are right to have concerns, but we have taken corresponding measures, so you can rest assured."

Fang Hao explained: "In order to prevent exchange, when our pawn shop seals the pawn, it must affix a seal and ask the customer to sign the name of the seamstress on it, so that when the customer comes to redeem the pawn, the customer will check it before unpacking. Is there any tampering. And once there is a phenomenon of bag loss, the customer can file a lawsuit with the pawnshop.”

"Forget it, I won't pawn it no matter how much I say." The middle-aged man waved his hand impatiently.

Fang Hao did not force it, expressing respect for the other party's opinion.

The middle-aged man shouted again: "Wait! Don't you accept my paintings?"

Fang Hao was speechless: "Didn't you say you can't pawn?"

"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you just talk about buying instead of pawning?" The middle-aged man almost stomped his feet.

"Sir, I can only say sorry." Fang Hao spread his hands, the middle-aged man insisted so much that he would not agree to be flexible.

The middle-aged man took a deep breath: "How about we look at the painting first?"

Seeing the self-confidence shown by the middle-aged man, Fang Hao seemed to think that he would definitely buy the painting when he saw it. He was somewhat curious, so he agreed.

The middle-aged man put on white gloves, took out the painting, and unfolded it on the table.

This is a vertical scroll landscape painting, about 1.2 meters high and half a meter wide. In the painting, in the valley, under the dense pines and cypresses, a tall man holds a scroll in his hand and looks into the distance leisurely, as if he is looking up at the clouds in the blue sky. , or listening to the gurgling sound of mountain springs and streams, or being attracted by the birds in the forest, people will have infinite reverie.

Fang Hao looked at this picture, and a strange color flashed in his heart. He went on to look at the inscription, which read "pine trees hang down and grass covers the grass, and the painting makes Wang Weiyan sit. The world is so bad that you can laugh at others. Jiajing Xin Mao July, Zhengming."

In addition, the seal is, Wen Zhengming seal, Hengshan.

Fang Hao secretly said: "Sure enough, this is Wen Zhengming's work, it's really interesting!",
Wen Zhengming, a painter, calligrapher, and writer in the Ming Dynasty, must be known to many people. He is also known as the "Four Talents in Wuzhong" along with Zhu Yunming, Tang Yin, and Xu Zhenqing in terms of poetry and prose.In the history of painting, together with Shen Zhou, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, they are called "Four Masters of Wu School".

Wen Zhengming's works have always been very popular in the auction market. In 18, his "Swallows in the Stream Hall" was auctioned in the form of consultation price, 7650 million yuan was hammered down, and the commission was finally sold at 8797.5 million yuan, setting a new record Auction record for his work.

Therefore, Tang Mingshan and Hu Jue's eyes widened when they saw this painting appearing in disbelief.The two of them also have a certain appreciation ability for calligraphy and painting. Leaving aside other things, the inscriptions and seals don't look fake.

Is this an authentic work? !

If this is an authentic work, based on the current performance of Wen Zhengming's works in the antique market, the value of this painting should be at least tens of millions!
Fang Hao carefully observed this work, and he can confirm that this painting is not like the previous work of Lu Zhi, where the inscription and seal are spliced ​​together.

After a while, Fang Hao straightened his body, loosened his waist, and asked, "Have you asked your name, sir?"

"Miangui's surname is Cao."

"Mr. Cao, can you tell me about the origin of this painting?"

The middle-aged man said confidently: "This painting was handed down from my ancestors, and it has been in my family for at least a hundred years!"

Fang Hao said: "Mr. Cao, since you sent me this painting to open my eyes, in the attitude of being responsible to both of you and me, let me say a few words first, okay?"

The middle-aged man nodded: "Of course."

"First of all, I want to know, is your painting really not replaced?" Fang Hao asked meaningfully.

Tang Mingshan and Hu Jue who were next to him were all refreshed when they heard this sentence. Hearing Fang Hao's meaning, is there something wrong with this painting?That's too realistic!

But if it is a fake, what about its inscription and seal, is it "moving the mountain"?But this painting looks like an old frame, and there is no trace of "moving the mountain top"!
Of course, they all believed in Fang Hao's judgment, and also believed that Fang Hao could not deliberately tell the truth for his own selfishness.

The middle-aged man's reaction was much more intense: "What do you mean, do you say my painting is fake?"

Fang Hao's tone was as calm as possible: "Mr. Cao, don't get excited."

"Boom!" The middle-aged man slapped the table: "This is a painting that has been handed down in my family for hundreds of years. You are so irresponsible, and you just say that there is a problem! Let me tell you, if I don't give an explanation today, there will be no end!"

Fang Hao said: "I can understand your feelings, but I also have to be responsible for my wallet, do you think this is the truth? Besides, who told you that the ancients would not cheat?"

"Uh..." The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and his tone suddenly weakened: "You can't just say it casually and conclude it's fake, right?"

"It's natural. I'm just saying my opinion. As for whether you believe it or not, it's up to you to decide."

Fang Hao went on to say: "In fact, the authenticity of Wen Zhengming's works is more complicated, and there are cases such as imitation, forgery, and ghostwriting.

In the era when Wen Zhengming lived, counterfeiting of calligraphy and painting was actually very common. Wang Shizhen's "Four Manuscripts of Zhoushanren" "Mr. Wen's Biography" records: "Mr. Gu's calligraphy and painting have been spread all over the world, and often they really cannot be regarded as fakes. Those who live in the surrounding area of ​​Wu have been moistened by Mr. Yu Fan for 40 years. '

What this sentence means is that Wen Zhengming's reputation surpasses that of his teacher Shen Zhou, so he has become a popular imitation object for counterfeiters for nearly 40 years.According to Wang Shizhen's conservative estimate, [-]% of Wen Zhengming's works on the market at that time were fakes.

There are also quite a few ghostwriting works. According to literature records, painting ghostwriters include Zi Wenjia, disciple Qian, Zhu Lang, Ju Jie, and some people who specialize in making his fake paintings. If you ask him to inscribe the title, he will agree..."

According to records, Wen Zhengming's personality is indeed excellent. It is said that there was a man from Jinling who lived in Sucheng and knew that Zhu Lang was good at imitating Wen Zhengming's paintings. He painted a painting in the style of Wen Zhengming.

As a result, Xiaotong sent the gift and the letter to Wen Zhengming's house by mistake.Knowing what he came for, Wen Zheng accepted the gift with a smile, and said jokingly, "I'll give you a painting of the real Mount Heng, and tell your master to treat it as a fake Zhu Lang's painting."

It's a good story to ask for a ghostwriter, but in the end I got the real work.

Therefore, in a situation like Wen Zhengming's, it is not inconceivable to get a forgery with his own signature and seal.

After listening to Fang Hao's explanation, Tang Mingshan and Hu Jue suddenly realized, while the middle-aged man seemed a little flustered: "You said there is a problem with this painting, so you have to point out the specific problem, right?"

"This is what it should be. Generally speaking, Wen Zhengming's authentic works are full of strength in fine workmanship, skillful in naivety, strange in ordinary, capable in strength, full of charm in brush and ink, and this painting is solid, elegant and elegant Weak, too rigid, sharp, thin, mediocre, specifically..."

Fang Hao talked eloquently and pointed out the problem: "Anyway, these are my personal opinions. There may be something wrong. You can take it to other places for expert appraisal. After the authenticity is confirmed, If you still want to sell, let's talk about the price."

(End of this chapter)