Rebirth: I am a first-line antique dealer

The imitation circle is an ancient writing tool used to hold down the paper on the copybook when imitating large characters to prevent it from moving and dislocating.

They were mostly seen in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with ring shapes and rectangular shapes that can be folded and combined with a ruler and an imitation circle.

What Ding Mao saw was that there were actually two shapes, a ring engraved with poetry imitating a circle.

The other is a pair of white copper engraved landscapes and figures, dual-purpose folding imitation circles that open as imitation circles and close as a ruler.

White copper is as white as fine silver, with thick and moist patina, well preserved, ingenious design, fine carving and unique originality. It is engraved with figures, landscapes and patterns, and has an elegant charm.

It was also accompanied by a poetic inscription, but the text was small and in cursive calligraphy. Ding Mao really couldn't recognize it completely, but he still recognized the inscription, which was "Yinsheng".

Including the ring-shaped imitation ring, it is also the "Yinsheng" model.

Chen Yinsheng, a famous copper carver in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, is known as the three masters of copper carving together with Zhang Yuechen and Yao Mangfu, and among the three, Chen Yinsheng is the most accomplished.

His name was Lin Bing, a native of Shuntian. He was a scholar during the Tongzhi period. He was knowledgeable in medicine, good at calligraphy and painting, and pioneered the art of engraving copper on ink cartridges.

Deng Zhicheng's "Miscellaneous Notes on Antiques" said: "Those who specialize in ink cartridges in the capital's factories put Wanli Zhai as the first, and engraving began with the scholar Chen Yinsheng."

Whether he is carving flowers, birds, fish, insects, or landscapes and figures, Chen Yinsheng is at ease with his craftsmanship, and his style is delicate and beautiful.

But the most important achievement lies in the calligraphy works, which are all excellent in regular script, running script, cursive script, seal script and other styles, and the words are as smooth as flying clouds!

Ding Mao first thought it was good when he saw the landscape figures engraved on the imitation circle. But when he saw the signature, he had to pay attention to the ink cartridge!

Chen Yinsheng is best at engraving copper calligraphy, and the ink box is the poem he engraved.

So he quickly picked it up and took a look. Sure enough, it was still a work by Chen Yinsheng!

"I heard from my dad that my grandfather used to attach great importance to this ink cartridge!"

The man called Xinmin saw Ding Mao's serious expression and said!

Now that everyone has said this, Ding Mao doesn't hide it. In fact, he didn't want to hide it at first. He had a good impression of this man's family, so he didn't plan to lower the price.

"Well, it's indeed good. The spirit of this calligraphy has charm!"

"Hey, whatever you think is good, that's fine. I heard from my dad that there was a jade man in the early years, and he traded rice with others in the early years!"

The man smiled innocently, but then felt helpless after saying it!

There were actually jade ones in the past, and these few pieces alone are already very good!It seems that this family used to be a scholarly family, but due to the current situation, they settled here.

Ding Mao weighed the price in his mind. Judging from the current market conditions, these items should be around 4000 yuan, but the delivery does not need to be flexible. Although he does not plan to lower the price, he still has to minimize the risk, and the You have to make money to make money.

"Uncle, this set is really good. Let's make a real price. Together, I can bid up to 2800 yuan for the fixed price!"

Since I heard that the older generation values ​​these things very much, maybe they also have special meaning to them.

Although he is not a gentleman, he is not a complete villain either. He will pay a higher price, and if someone sells it, he will take it. If he doesn't sell it, he will not take advantage of it!

The man obviously didn't expect these copper pieces to be so valuable, and so did the woman beside him, who looked shocked!

The man regained his composure and asked, "Is the highest limit 2800?"

Ding Mao nodded and told the truth: "Uncle, to tell you the truth, I can probably see the total price of these things is between 3200 and 4000 yuan, but when choosing a buyer for these things, I don't know exactly how much they will cost, so I want to Lower the price a little to reduce the risk!”

The man nodded, hesitating a little.

Seeing this, Ding Mao didn't force it and said: "Uncle, actually this thing should be able to increase in value in the future, but if you want to sell it at a high price, you probably have to go to auction, but there are times when the auction fails, and the price may not be reached." Expected, so think it over yourself!”

While the man was still hesitant, the old man in the room said something vaguely loudly.

"Sell!"

So, the man hurried to that room and communicated with the old man.

The doors to both rooms were open, so Ding Mao could hear what was being said!

The general meaning is that the old man spent a lot of money due to illness, and these can be sold to supplement the family income.

When the man came back again, he not only agreed to sell these items to Ding Mao, but he also had more things in his hands.

"I'll sell these to you at the price you said. If I still have something else, how much can I give you?"

As he spoke, the man took out a glasses case made of fish skin.

After Ding Mao took it, he opened it and saw that the glasses were still inside.

The glasses case has fish skin on the outside, the box is connected to the lid with a female opening, the upper and lower sections are inlaid with flower-shaped copper ornaments, and are pendant with emerald stones, which looks calm and elegant.

The glasses are frameless, the nose pads are made of gold, the frames are made of bent gold wire, and the lenses are made of crystal. They are both cultural and luxurious.

This was not something that ordinary literati could use in the past. Thinking back to the few bronze engraved works by Chen Yinsheng, it is not difficult to see that the ancestors of this family were by no means ordinary literati.

But Ding Mao won't pry for anything. As the saying goes, look at the sky when you go out, and look at your face when you enter.

The man simply mentioned his grandfather and didn't say much, probably because he didn't want to say much.

Since he didn't want to mention it more, whether he had hidden secrets or didn't want to embarrass his ancestors, it wasn't his place to pry into!

Just when Ding Mao was about to put the glasses into the box, the man reluctantly took out an exquisite white jade animal button seal.

The jade quality is shiny and smooth, and the whiteness is also good. The seal is made with a free seal, so Ding Mao cannot judge the original owner of the seal from it.

Although this seal is good, its value is not as good as that set of glasses!

"I want to sell these two too, see how much I can give you!"

Ding Mao never bought or sold glasses in his last life, and he never paid attention to the market, so he really didn't know the price.

Therefore, he really didn’t know how to pay this price!

"Uncle, do you have a price you want in mind? If so, just tell me and I'll see if I can research it."

The man hesitated for a moment, then spoke with some embarrassment.

"I think it would be best if the glasses case is stamped with 2200 yuan, so together with the previous one, it's exactly 5000 yuan!"

Ding Mao also thought for a while after hearing this. After all, the eyes are made of gold wire. Although he is not sure about the price, it should not be cheap. As for the seal, the price should not be worth it.

The man kept staring at Ding Mao, and his wife also looked forward to it. If it really sold for this price, the family would be much better off.

Since he couldn't afford the money, there was nothing wrong with accepting it. Besides, the market would rise in the future, and he couldn't afford to have those few Chen Yinsheng's works!

Thinking of this, Ding Mao nodded and said: "Okay, although the price is high and the risk is high, you shouldn't lose money, so let's pay 5000 yuan together!"