Although Chen Wenzhe has not yet gotten his hands on the three-legged golden toad in front of him, he can tell from its appearance that it is pure gold.
After all, he has been exposed to a lot of gold recently, and he can tell the color of gold at a glance.
In addition, he has many unique skills in seeing and touching gold, so he naturally knows what gold products look like.
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The golden toad in front of you is absolutely genuine. Judging from its solid appearance, it must have been made from a lot of gold.
However, its shape seems to be imitation.
Why does Chen Wenzhe feel that it is fake at first glance?
Mainly, this kind of three-legged golden toad has been unearthed in China and is very famous.
That "three-legged toad" once sold for 30 yuan, but now it is a national treasure.
That toad is a three-legged toad inkstone from the Northern Song Dynasty collected in Cixi City, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces.
Don't underestimate this piece of porcelain. It not only carries the calligraphy and ink culture of ancient literati, but is also a leader in ancient ceramic culture.
It is also a very rare national treasure-level cultural relic among Yue kiln celadon.
And as far as Chen Wenzhe knows, there is a touching story in it.
Back in the 1980s, one day, the Cixi Cultural Relics Administration Bureau received a phone call.
The phone rang very quickly at that time, one after another.
The staff rushed from upstairs to downstairs in a panic. After picking up the phone, they immediately realized that something was wrong, something serious had happened!
I only heard the other party say anxiously: "It's not good! Someone dug up a place here in Pengdong Township, and a very rare cultural relic came out. It has been resold! Please send someone from the Cultural Relics Bureau to investigate quickly!"
It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon. The director of the cultural relics bureau office thought, Hushan is more than ten kilometers away from Pengdong Township. Is it still too late to rush there in such a short time?
But one second later and the cultural relics may be lost. Naturally, the curator cares about the cultural relics and does not dare to neglect them.
In recent years, celadon and other cultural relics have been continuously unearthed in Cixi. Cultural relic speculators in the territory have become very active. A slight negligence will cause the loss of precious cultural relics and cause irreparable losses.
So they immediately sent people to the scene to rescue the cultural relics, and rode as fast as possible to the Pengdong Township Government. Accompanied by local people, they headed to the excavation site.
On the way, they learned that after being unearthed, the cultural relic was immediately sold to another commune member for 30 yuan.
After the members bought it, it was kept secret. Even the village cadres who wanted to take a look were politely declined.
But in the end, the fire could not be contained. Because of the special shape of this artifact, there were many people present, and the news quickly spread throughout the village.
Later, village cadres convened a symposium with members.
At the meeting, we carefully publicized the national cultural relics policy and the importance of protecting national cultural relics, and also had a heart-to-heart talk with the members who bought the cultural relics.
Later, the member admitted that he didn't understand the cultural relics regulations before. He just thought it was fun and liked the artifact very much, and didn't think about anything else.
If you don't hear these cultural relic heritage announcements, you may be resold to dealers who come to collect cultural relics in a few days.
He expressed his willingness to contribute cultural relics to the country on the spot.
Of course, this is the official language. Chen Wenzhe doesn’t know if there are some thrilling stories in it.
However, when he saw the report and heard the story, he just felt funny.
Now that I think about it, no matter what, it would be a good thing to be able to protect this thing and prevent it from being lost abroad.
As for the farmer who discovered the treasure, no one seemed to care about his loss.
What was unearthed that year was a three-legged toad Yandi from the Northern Song Dynasty.
It was unearthed from the mud at the head of Silong Bridge in Pengdong Township, Cixi City in 1983.
It has been identified by experts as Yue kiln celadon and is an extremely rare national treasure among Yue kiln celadon.
It was designated as a national first-class cultural relic in 1985 and is now in the Cixi City Museum.
It is worth mentioning that the Cixi Museum has more than 3,000 cultural relics from past dynasties, including more than 1,000 Yue kiln celadon cultural relics.
But this Yue kiln celadon three-legged toad inkstone is the best among them.
This Northern Song Dynasty Yue kiln celadon three-legged toad inkstone has a height of 6.2 cm, a length of 10.4 cm, a tray height of 1.5 cm, a diameter of 10.8 cm, and a bottom diameter of 3.5 cm.
Take a lotus leaf as a tray, and the three-legged toad stands on the lotus leaf with its head held high.
The eyes are in the shape of peach leaves, the two front legs are naturally supported, and the back leg is bent and squatting as if about to jump.
There is a water inlet hole on the back of the toad, and a small mouth is left in the toad's mouth for water discharge.
This vessel has exquisite craftsmanship, green glaze, unique shape and full of interest. It can be called a classic masterpiece among the toads of the Song Dynasty.
This toad inkstone is hollow, and the small hole on its back is the water injection hole and the water outlet hole.
Of course, the toad's mouth is slightly open, and water drips into the inkstone drop by drop, slowly pushing and rubbing the ink away.
Through this delicate and diffuse process, the elegant tone emerges as the ink color gradually thickens.
The porcelain master skillfully combines the elegant and spiritual toad with the lotus leaf, which emerges from the mud and remains unstained.
This is in line with the beautiful hope and aesthetic taste of literati. It is indeed a Yue kiln treasure rich in artistic beauty and priceless.
There are many things worth studying about this treasure, such as why the toad is used to shape the inkstone?
The status of this "three-legged toad" can be seen in the first domestic kiln site museum to cooperate to create a high-quality porcelain exhibition.
There were more than 20 national first-class cultural relics on display at that time, but the "toad" in Cixi received the most special treatment.
It is displayed in the most conspicuous position in the exhibition hall, and the reputation of the national treasure celadon "Northern Song Dynasty Toad Inkstone" has spread like wildfire.
When the rumors started, it also coincided with a new book "Frog" winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
At that time, netizens even speculated whether this was related to toad inkstone drops?
The ancients needed to drip some water before grinding ink, but the amount of water was difficult to control, so inkstone drops were invented.
The workmanship of inkstones is relatively exquisite. In addition to metal, jade, and agate, most of them are made of ceramic materials.
In terms of shape design, it is also extremely skillful, comparable to the art of purple clay pots that appeared in later generations.
Most of them are quaint, unique, colorful, and exude a strong flavor of Chinese culture.
Inkstone droplets made into toad shapes have been around since the Han Dynasty, and have become commonplace in the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasties.
Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty had a saying that "water-cooled inkstone toads tend to be thin and frozen".
Among the people, the three-legged toad is also known as the "golden toad" and the "money leopard". It feeds exclusively on coins, and it has the meaning of attracting wealth, wealth and peace.
A three-legged toad inkstone from Yue kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty. The golden toad is integrated with the muddy and unstained lotus leaf, which is a rare shape.
Celadon inkstones shaped like the three-legged toad inkstone of the Northern Song Dynasty are very rare. This is the only one intact in China, so it is very precious.
An antique lover like Chen Wenzhe will never forget this kind of thing once he takes one look at it.
And what is in front of me is obviously not porcelain or celadon, but gold.
It is a gold vessel made of solid materials, but its shape is exactly the same as the three-legged toad inkstone from Yue kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty. How come it does not arouse suspicion?