What Mr. Lin took out was a gold object in the shape of a Capricorn. Capricorn, also known as Mokara, was originally the mount of the water god in Indian mythology and one of the twelve palaces, called the Capricorn Palace. Its head resembles an antelope.
, the body and tail are like a fish. Buddhist scriptures use it as a metaphor for Bodhisattva to bind all living beings with love and never give up until he reaches perfect Buddhahood. Also, because Capricorn gives meat to people, it later became a sacred object in Buddhism. According to current archaeological data, the earliest
The image of the Capricorn fish appeared on the carvings on the cover of the tomb of Li He in the Sui Dynasty. It has been handed down for generations. Because it is related to Buddhism, it has been favored by the royal family of the past dynasties. The gold vessels of each dynasty have the shape of Capricorn.
The Capricorn gold vessel held by Mr. Lin has the overall shape of a dragon head and a fish body with a circle around the soles of the feet. The Capricorn holds its head high and swings its tail, with a hole in its mouth for flow. Between the head and the tail are lotus flowers, lotus pods and lotus flowers in bud.
The leaves are connected to form a handle, and there is a water spout in the middle of the lotus leaf. The fish body is decorated with fish scales and has fin-shaped wings.
Luo Tian could tell at a glance that the craftsmanship of the Golden Capricorn belonged to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was also an era when gold and silverware were very popular. The Tang Dynasty was a famous prosperous age in ancient China. The economy and society were developed, people lived a prosperous life, and the upper class pursued a luxurious life.
The glittering gold and silverware has become one of the symbols of status and wealth for the royal nobles. The royal family even set up a special workshop for making gold and silverware to meet the needs of the royal family. It is precisely because of the royal family's praise
, which made the craftsmen work hard to produce batches of exquisite, colorful and magnificent gold and silverware, which showed the graceful and luxurious fashion of the Tang Dynasty.
These gold and silverware not only have rich shapes, but also extremely exquisite patterns, and the Capricorn pattern is a popular pattern in gold and silverware in the Tang Dynasty. The Capricorn pattern is commonly known as the ichthyosaur variation pattern, which cleverly combines the image characteristics of two animals, dragon and fish.
, creating an imaginary artistic shape, full of romantic fantasy. Since the Capricorn pattern was introduced to our country from India, the Capricorn pattern in the early Tang Dynasty is basically the same as the Capricorn pattern in India and Central Asia.
There are no wings. By the middle and late Tang Dynasty, winged Capricorn patterns appeared on gold and silver products, which were more plump than the Capricorn patterns in India and Central Asia.
"Mr. Lin, this is a gold artifact. It must be very intuitive. This Capricorn came from India. Capricorns in India do not have wings. Only in the middle and late Tang Dynasty did Capricorns have a pair of wings.
This is one of the important signs of our different eras, as well as its craftsmanship. Before the middle of the eighth century, the production of gold and silverware was monopolized by the central government and royal workshops in the north. The production areas were centered on Chang'an and Luoyang, which represented
Orthodox style. The gold and silverware workshops of the central government of the Tang Dynasty were located in Chang'an. They mainly included the Shaofu Jianzhang Smelting Office set up in the early Tang Dynasty, the gold and silver workshop courtyard directly under the direct jurisdiction of the Shaofu Jianzhong Shang Office, and the Wensi Workshop set up in the late Tang Dynasty.
Courtyard Three."
"The central government gold and silver workshop in the Tang Dynasty had a complete production management system. The production process of utensils had strict procedures. Gold and silver craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty were specialized professions. The Zhangye Department, the Gold and Silver Workshop and other central government administrations in the early Tang Dynasty
The government-run workshops of the Tang Dynasty were home to many professional gold and silver craftsmen. At the same time, in order to ensure the quality of gold and silverware, the Tang Dynasty established a system of teaching and cultivating reserve talents under central supervision. Therefore, yours is a product of the royal family.
It’s worth a lot of money,” Luo Tian said.
Mr. Lin sneered at Luo Tian's long speech: "I have been talking for a long time, but actually only the last sentence is the most important. But I also received this thing from someone else. It looked like it was shining and I thought it must be valuable, so I bought it.
,What on earth is this used for?”
"One is as a drop of water, as a study utensil, and the second is as a decoration on the desks of princes and nobles. Its manufacturing process is very delicate. It consists of four very complex processes: hammering, carving, welding, and inlay.
The combination of the whole Capricorn shape as the shape of this utensil was very rare in the Tang Dynasty, because the gold and silver utensils of the Tang Dynasty were generally divided into two types: northern and southern." Luo Tian said: "This one can be
It is said that it is neither a southern style nor a northern style."
Mr. Lin frowned, but finally listened to Luo Tian and continued.
"The artistic style of northern gold and silverware was formed on the basis of the culture of the Central Plains and was deeply influenced by the artistic style of the gold and silverware of the ancient Persian Empire in Central and Western Asia. Most of the decorative patterns were related to hunting, battles, riding and shooting, or foreign exchanges, etc.
, and were deeply influenced by royal characteristics. The style may be simple and solemn, or rich and gorgeous, and most of them have strong exotic characteristics. Although the artistic style of southern gold and silverware is also influenced by the culture of the northern Central Plains and the style of gold and silverware in Central and Western Asia,
This influence is very weak. Its mainstream style continues to develop on the basis of the inherent culture of the South. People prefer real animals to fictional ones. The realism expressed by the animal shapes and images on the utensils almost overshadows them.
The form of the utensil itself, popular themes among the people such as flowers, birds, insects, fish, etc. are more popular, with a strong flavor of life and worldly interest." Luo Tian suddenly changed the topic: "Mr. Lin is actually most concerned about the price, right?"
"Nonsense." Mr. Lin blurted out. As soon as he said this, Cheng Zhen sighed inwardly. People who play with antiques are not necessarily experts. They all use them as investment projects. These days, the market is also in chaos.
"Five hundred thousand." Luo Tian said: "It is a fine gold item from the Tang Dynasty and is suitable for long-term investment. It will definitely not fall in price if you hold it in your hands."
Mr. Lin beamed: "That's right, you have two brushes. Actually, to tell you the truth, before I came here, I had other people look at this thing, and they said something similar to you, but you said it the most brilliantly and the most.
It makes sense, and the price is reasonable. You are very kind, not bad, and you are really capable. No wonder everyone recommends you."
Luo Tian was a little embarrassed. The higher the price, the more amazing it would be.
For the first time, Cheng Zhen was anxious to send the guests away. Unexpectedly, the man surnamed Lin was not in a hurry to leave, but took out another thing from his bag: "You passed the test on the one just now, now I want you to look at the second one."
It’s done.”
This person is really interesting. Luo Tian thought to himself, if he was not satisfied with the first thing, then there must be nothing like the second thing. Luo Tian smiled and said: "Okay, the customer is God. If you think highly of our company, I will definitely do it."
Try your best."
The second thing Mr. Lin took was the first thing Luo Tian encountered. It was a compass. Judging from the appearance, it was quite old. Because he couldn't use supernatural powers, Luo Tian spent a lot of time studying it carefully, fearing that he would make mistakes.
It was finally confirmed that this was an ancient compass.
Before there was a compass, the ancients used the stars to determine the direction. Based on this principle, the compass came into being. Before the invention of the compass, the ancients used the stars to determine the direction. They determined the direction by observing the North Star at night and through the shadow of the sun during the day.
To distinguish the direction. In ancient times, in addition to the compass, also called the Japanese guide, invented based on this principle, there is also the compass. In some war scenes in ancient dramas, the existence of the compass can also be seen.
Before the invention of the compass, it was impossible to divide the geographical position very finely. The direction and position could only be described by the eight major directions of north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west and northwest. In Feng Shui, Bagua is used to represent it.
: Kan Gua represents the north, Gen Gua represents the northeast, Zhen Gua represents the east, Xun Gua represents the southeast, Li Gua represents the south, Kun Gua represents the southwest, Dui Gua represents the west, and Qian Gua represents the northwest.
Compass positioning divides the ground plane into twelve equal parts, and uses the twelve earthly branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai to express the direction.
Compasses in ancient my country are divided into two categories: water compasses and dry compasses. A water compass is a magnetic needle placed in a depression in the middle to contain water, with directions marked on the sides. The magnetic needle floats on the water and can rotate freely. When it is stationary, the needle can rotate freely. The ends pointed north and south respectively. This compass instrument was more sensitive than Sinan, and it was the earliest compass. Later, with the need to measure the orientation, a dry compass appeared that combined a magnetic needle and an azimuth disk. Since the advent of the water compass in the third century BC Since then, the compass has been quickly used in navigation. By the Ming Dynasty, the technical indicators of the compass were quite complete. According to historical records, Zheng He's fleet on his mission to the West was equipped with this kind of compass.
In the current market, the market value of compasses used for navigation, that is, water compasses, is higher than that of dry compasses. "Mr. Lin, your compass is a dry compass, which is used on the ground. There is an inscription on the back,
It's made of wood. Judging from the cracks and insect infestations on the wood, the age should be consistent with the inscription, but the value has been discounted because of the poor condition."
Luo Tian's words were more tactful, and Mr. Lin frowned: "How much is it worth? Tell the truth. I bought it for 20,000 yuan. You can tell me whether it's worth it!"
Then Luo Tian said directly: "It's not worth it. Your compass costs only three thousand yuan at most. Because there are cracks and insects on both sides, the quality is too bad."
Mr. Lin's face turned red and he stared at Luo Tian with his eyes. Cheng Zhen on one side was a little frightened. Some people are unreasonable. Mr. Lin seemed reckless when he came in. He didn't know how to use force, right?
Suddenly, Mr. Lin burst out laughing, making Luo Tian at a loss. Luo Tian could only look at him with a smile. Mr. Lin finished laughing and put his fists on the table: "The gang leader is right.
Mr. Luo looks smooth, but he is actually a neat person at heart!"
Hearing him mention the gang leader and thinking that he said he came from the northeast, Luo Tian was surprised: "The gang leader you mentioned refers to Gang Leader Yang. I don't know who you are?"
"Mr. Luo is such a noble man who forgets things. Last time you went to Japan, we had an interview. I was a leader of the Northeast Gang. Mr. Luo was personally received by the gang leader and military advisor at that time. He definitely did not treat me.
A hall master takes it seriously." After Mr. Lin finished speaking, seeing Luo Tian's embarrassed face, he immediately smiled again: "Actually, it was just a face-to-face meeting, so it is normal for Mr. Luo to have no impression."
Luo Tian breathed a sigh of relief. When dealing with Jianghu people, you have to target their appetites, otherwise... Luo Tian felt a lot more relaxed when he heard him announce his name: "How are you, Gang Leader Yang?"
"Fortunately, everything went well. I came today because I was entrusted by the gang." Mr. Lin suddenly said seriously, his expression completely different from the one just now.