Master descends to earth

Chapter 190 Literati Style
After eating a meal for more than two hours, Zhang Zongxian rarely met a rising star and shared a lot of experience, which benefited Su Yuan a lot.

The two parties left their contact information. Su Yuan is very satisfied with today's harvest. The other party has been able to dominate the auction circle for decades. Both the network and resources are top-notch. There are great opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Back at the hotel, call the second senior collector who will be visiting tomorrow, Ge Shiqiao from Tianminlou, the leading blue and white king on Hong Kong Island.

The next day, I came to a small building with a very ordinary appearance, made a call and waited for someone to open the door.

"Come in, welcome, welcome!"

Ge Shiqiao, who is over 70 years old and gentle, with gold-rimmed glasses, warmly invited Su Yuan in, and went directly to the second floor to visit the collections in Tianmin Building.

"This……"

As soon as Su Yuan entered the door, he was shocked by hundreds of pieces of blue and white from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially the blue and white pieces from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, a total of 24 pieces. In terms of quantity, it is second only to Topkapi Palace and Adbeir Temple, and third in the world, compared to the Forbidden City. There are many.

"My father mainly collects Yuan blue and white and Ming and Qing official kiln porcelain. There are 127 blue and white pieces here, including 24 Yuan dynasty blue and white pieces, 57 Ming dynasty blue and white pieces, and 46 Qing dynasty blue and white pieces. They have been collected by our father and son for 60 years."

It was also rare for Ge Shiqiao to meet such a young junior. Geng Baochang made a special phone call and said that he was going to a master so that he could have a good chat.

Looking around, the decoration is very simple. Although he is sitting on a wealth in the eyes of ordinary people, the life of the old man is very simple.He is also the only full-time employee of Tianminlou, from cleaning to moving, he does everything by himself.

The purpose of Su Yuan's visit this time was mainly Yuan blue and white flowers, he did not expect to see 24 authentic pieces, he is indeed the king of blue and white flowers.

Ge Shiqiao saw that Su Yuan was interested in Yuan blue and white porcelain, and said with a smile: "I personally think that the Ming Dynasty was the highest peak of blue and white porcelain development. Of course, the Yuan Dynasty was also of great significance, but it was mainly due to the influence of the Middle East. , the decorations are very exquisite, and most of them are still exported.”

"But now judging from market auctions, the popularity is concentrated on the colorful porcelain of the third generation of the Qing Dynasty? For example, during the Qianlong period, some of the official kiln porcelain was very exquisitely made using techniques such as engraving and carving. It can easily cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. I I think it's abnormal."

The old man got straight to the point and criticized bluntly: "I think these things of Qianlong are at best made by craftsmen in a more detailed way. It took a lot of effort, but it still feels not elegant enough."

"In terms of true artistry, it is far from being comparable to the early Ming Dynasty blue and white. When we were collecting, the Qianlong blue and white were very low-grade, and the Yongxuan blue and white were much higher than the pastels."

Su Yuan nodded, agreed with the other party's point of view, and analyzed: "Late period porcelain is so popular, I think there are elements of hype. Moreover, many collectors do not have enough cultural background. They just see that this part of the market has the fastest appreciation, and then put It's an investment."

Ge Shiqiao shook his head, and said helplessly: "It is impossible to be eager for success in collecting. Of course, you must have a certain amount of funds, but it depends on whether there is an opportunity. It doesn't mean that if you have money, there will be good things flowing out for you to buy."

"We just happened to have a few very important collectors selling their collections, such as Qiu Yanzhi, Hu Huichun, Zhao Congyan, Ye Yi, etc. Only then did we have the opportunity to have a collection of the scale it is today. This is an opportunity, especially fate."

"I still remember that one year, a Hongwu glazed red plum vase was going to be auctioned at a small auction in Europe. Many people in the circle knew about it. The original auction was scheduled for the afternoon, but because the previous items were auctioned very quickly, it was scheduled for the morning. It's time to auction it off."

"There were only 5 Chinese people present at the time, so they discussed not to argue, and bought it together for a small price. Then they sold it to Sotheby's for another auction. The auction was more than 1000 million, and each of them made almost 200 million. "

"It's totally a business, not a collection. But unfortunately, many people do it now."

The old man looked at Su Yuan's young face and said earnestly: "A true collector must determine his own goals. He must have aesthetic taste, patience, and knowledge of history and appraisal. If you accumulate slowly, you cannot become a great collector all at once. , otherwise it will go quickly as it comes, I have seen a lot of this."

"Our things are not locked in a safe, but displayed at home. Experts and scholars from home and abroad have come to us for exchanges. We are not conservative with those who are really interested, and tell others about our experience for free. Some newcomers just I didn’t know how to collect it at first, but after seeing our stuff, I knew what to buy.”

After hearing this, Su Yuan sighed. No wonder Hong Kong Island has a high level of collection. It is because there are a group of seniors who selflessly share their experience and set an example, so that newcomers will avoid detours and waste less money.

You can't collect according to books, let alone listen to stories told by others, you must read real things.It's like getting to know people. If you have more contact with others, you can tell whether they are real or fake by just looking at how they dress up.If you have never met this person, just listen to other people's introduction, anyone can lie to you.

After the old man opened the cabinet and took out the collections one by one with his own hands, Su Yuan said softly: "Why do you have to work so hard, you do everything yourself..."

The old man waved his hand and said seriously: "These things are not willing to be handed over to others. In fact, there are rewards in the hard work. If it is all done by others, I have no experience. If you serve it, it will reward you, especially the hand feeling. "

"Many old gentlemen often come to Tianmin Building. Mr. Geng Baochang and Mr. Feng Xianming have a good relationship with me. Mr. Geng is 12 years older than me, and he is 92 years old now, but he basically doesn't wear glasses when he sees things, and he rarely wears them. Looking at it with a magnifying glass is like touching it with your hands.”

"Looking at the shape and bottom of the vessel, touching the edge of the mouth, and knocking the sound, you can accurately tell the kiln mouth and age. I have never learned this skill."

"Mr. Chen Yujie, who passed away the year before last, is completely different. He and Mr. Qiu Yanzhi are brothers. He can read things very carefully. He can watch a thing for several hours, over and over again. And he has his own knack for seeing things. , Don’t tell others, sometimes you will tell me when you are happy, after listening to them, record it carefully, and then figure it out yourself.”

He handed Su Yuan a piece of Yongle blue and white flowers, and introduced: "The collection of Tianminlou focuses on the official kilns of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The official kilns of the Ming Dynasty were very bad after Wanli. Many official kilns stopped burning or were fired by private kilns. People burn."

"By the time of Tianqi Chongzhen, it was basically lost, and many things written with the year of Tianqi were very rough, so senior collectors used to stop collecting them after they came to Wanli."

"My father was a literati. When he was young, he wrote articles and edited newspapers and magazines. He had long been interested in literature, history and art. It's just economic constraints and years of wars that made him unable to collect them."

"I didn't start buying things until I came to Hong Kong Island to do business and had a financial foundation. There were ceramics, calligraphy and paintings. At that time, there were no auctions here. Sotheby's only came in 1973, and most of them were in Boya, Zhongyi and Jigu. I bought it from these places.”

(End of this chapter)