Master descends to earth

Chapter 191 Helpless
"The reason why we chose Yuanming blue and white porcelain was because the locals generally liked this kind of porcelain at that time, and there were not many things in Tianminlou. Now 27 years have passed, and we have added a lot of things. At that time, there were only four pieces of Yuan Ming blue and white porcelain. There is only one piece of sweet white glaze, and there is no mark yet, and now we have more than ten pieces of Yongle sweet white, and three of them have the "Yongle Nianzhi" seal script mark."

Speaking of this, Ge Shiqiao sighed for a long time, and said helplessly: "I still accept it now, and I buy more or less every year, and I go to every auction, but basically I check for omissions and make up for vacancies. Because Tianminlou only buys but not sells, and the financial resources are not enough. It’s limited, and it can’t be compared with those rich people who can easily spend hundreds of millions.”

"There are still a lot of things that are missing. Some things that I didn't realize were so important in this period are slowly being added now."

Su Yuan nodded, and carefully picked up a blue-and-white palace bowl with flower patterns on the inside and outside of Chenghua blue-and-white. Various craftsmanship flashed through his mind, and he said obsessively: "There are patterns on the inside and outside, and the few pieces in the Forbidden City are not as wonderful as this one." !"

Ge Shiqiao laughed loudly and said, "I took one a few years ago, and it cost more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars. Of course, we bought this one early, it's not that expensive, but it's not cheap either."

"This bowl is much finer than ordinary ones, and patterns like this are not uncommon, but many others are directly painted flat, and its leaves and flowers have left a white edge."

"There are very few things like this in the world, let alone something as fine and complete as this one, which can be regarded as one of the more important ones we recognize here."

Then he took out another one, and Su Yuan's eyes lit up. The Yongle blue and white sixteen-son bowl, the old man said to himself: "Yongle sixteen-son bowl, this one may be the best one among all the blue and white porcelain. Floral prints are a completely different thing."

"Sixteen children playing games have existed since the Song Dynasty, but most of them were one or two. There were sixteen children playing various games. It used to be said that it was only after Xuande, but in fact Yongle had it, but it was rare. And this one is the earliest in Yongle. It is said that this one is also in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, but it really doesn’t exist in other places.”

"It is not impossible for a good thing to come out suddenly, but we must be careful to verify it. For example, in the 1930s or earlier, it was exhibited in some important exhibitions, or it has been recorded in a book, and it is certain. , I have nothing to say. Like our Yongle Sixteen Sons, it has been written in several books."

"There is another situation. Although it has never been shown, its spread experience is relatively reliable. For example, some French ancestors have participated in the Eight-Nation Allied Forces and visited the Forbidden City. You can believe what he shows."

"Some are completely random. The stories are very vivid, but they cannot withstand scrutiny. They must be carefully verified, and they must be believed if they are true. Even if it has been recorded in the book. Now some people do it in the book. Hands and feet, so you have to be very careful."

"People who see something they like and buy it for themselves are called players in the past, and those who do business with it are called experts. There is a clear difference between experts and players. What experts think is, after I buy this thing, how much can I resell?"

"Whatever the player thinks is fun, as long as they like it. Now there is another kind called speculators, who are more powerful than connoisseurs, and they are all local tyrants. In the past, they speculated in stocks and real estate, but now they come to speculate in antiques."

"For real collectors, there are only two possibilities for selling things: one is that the business fails and they have to sell. There are many such examples. The other is that the person they like is gone, and there is no one to take over, and the offspring have to separate and cash out It’s the most convenient way to make money.”

"These things are chosen by thousands and thousands of people that I like, and I don't want to bear them all, so unless I die, I absolutely don't want to bear them!"

The old man took a sip of tea and continued: "Nowadays many good things are unaffordable. My attitude is: it's okay to appreciate them if you can't afford them."

"As long as there is an auction now, I will go there. No matter what it is, you must get a good look at it. Like the chicken bowl cup, I have seen it several times. I look at it every time I come out, and I know it well."

"Honestly speaking, there are only so many important things, and basically all of them have come out. If something you have never seen before pops up suddenly, you have to be careful about its authenticity."

Su Yuan listened very carefully. The old collector is still rich in experience. If he really wants to do something in the future, he must be careful.

"In the past, we basically bought at Sotheby's and Christie's. At that time, the auction could still guarantee the authenticity. When we went to buy, we didn't need to check the authenticity. What we cared about was whether there were any defects, such as leaks, adhesions, etc. Flush."

"But now the direction of these auctions has begun to change. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, but be afraid of fake things. Compared with the past, it's a completely different thing."

"The auction market in the mainland is deeper. We generally dare not buy things. If we fail to do so, we will capsize in the gutter. There is no way."

The old man and Su Yuan started to discuss the details, and soon the enthusiasm was in full swing, and they were conquered by Su Yuan's level.In fact, appraisal is a kind of feeling. For example, Kangxi items give you a particularly heavy feeling, because the structure is very tight and strong.

If it feels light to hold, it is doubtful.The same is true for the sound of porcelain. If the temperature is high, the sound will be crisp and sharp; if the temperature is low, the sound will be lower.

The reason why Geng Baochang can judge by picking it up is because he has seen too much, and there is no need to look at the details at all. One glance is accurate, and it has risen to intuition, which is the highest level.

"In 1984, JDZ had just dug into the Chenghua formation. Because I was afraid of being stolen, I dug it and buried it. I took the train to JDZ at that time, and I asked someone to remove the soil the day before I arrived. At that time, Mr. Liu Xinyuan took me to see a wall. Same, there is a layer of porcelain, which is very clear. He gave me a shovel, and digging a piece is Chenghua, and digging a piece is Chenghua.”

"I bought a blue and white pomegranate bottle from the Hongwu era two years ago. It was very large and a heavy item. It was bought from Paris by a Mr. Xie from Singapore in the 1980s. My attention."

"Because I want this thing, most of it has its head cut off, and then a fake inlay is made on it. I didn't even look at the auction preview. Wait until the auction before the dinner, and the people at Christie's told me that the head of this big jar In fact, most of them are there, but a small piece has been added."

"Run to see it after dinner, it's really true. Later, I bought it at a price lower than the reserve price, and the price is very good. Tianminlou is buying this kind now, which is more valuable, museum-level, and the price is acceptable to us. , then you should buy it.”

"A few years ago, speculators were keen on fancy things like Qianlong's revolving heart bottles. We didn't look at them at all. In the past, these were worthless. A Yongle plate could buy a pair of revolving heart bottles, but now they are being speculated at a high price. .”

"Originally, my ideal was to donate to a certain school like the David Foundation, as a teaching material, to train specialized talents. But now it seems that the schools are also chaotic, and I don't like some schools, not to mention the high tuition fees. , It’s completely confusing people with certificates.”

"After getting the certificate, people sign it indiscriminately. The people who are trained are doing bad things, and then give the school this batch of things, which will become his capital to deceive people."

"It's best to have someone from my family take over, but it's not easy to find someone like me. It's a hard job to guard this place. I don't dare to stay too long when I go out for a trip. I have to check it carefully every day."

"The reason why my father dared to hand over the Tianmin Building to me may be that when I was compiling the book, he saw that I was interested in this thing and could get in. Otherwise, he might have donated it."

"I think the same way now. If the next generation really can't find a successor, then donate it!"

(End of this chapter)