To be honest, asking Zhuang Rui to appraise treasures is just trying to catch a duck and put it on the shelf, which is a bit overwhelming.
Zhuang Rui and Uncle De have been in contact for a long time. Knowing the antiques industry does not mean that you can just read a few books and know some theoretical knowledge to get started. This requires daily accumulation and a lot of contact with real objects. However,
Even so, you will often be fooled.
As the saying goes, "In troubled times, golden times bring prosperity to antiques." Every time antiques become popular, there will be more fakes.
In modern China, the early years of the Republic of China were considered a prosperous period for antiques. At that time, warlords such as Sun Dianying and Zhang Zongchang robbed the tombs of Kangxi, Qianlong, and Empress Dowager Cixi, and unearthed a large number of precious cultural relics. In addition, Puyi
Others guarded theft, and many rare treasures were leaked from the palace. For a time, private collections flourished, and even many foreign speculators came to China to buy cultural relics. Counterfeiting and imitating antiques also became popular at that time. The famous painter Zhang Daqian was one of the
He is a master forger who is good at imitation. The paintings he imitated by Shi Tao are so difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake that they are one of the best.
In the following ten years, the land of China was plagued by disasters and wars. Although a very small number of people were still paying attention to protecting some precious national treasures, people could not even eat at that time. Who would treat these things as treasures?
, during this period, a large number of precious cultural relics were lost overseas, which also made some domestic experts sad in the future.
In the 1990s, the spring breeze of reform and opening up swept across the land of China. People's living standards were also improving day by day. Entertainment and cultural life gradually became enriched. However, the craze for antiques and art that had been out of people's sight for nearly half a century has returned.
It began to slowly heat up, and by the end of the century, the number of people who loved collecting had skyrocketed. The amount of transactions in domestic auction houses alone exceeded billions a year, not to mention that most of the fine products were sold abroad.
Marx once said: "With a profit of 10%, capital is ready to move; with a profit of 100%, capital will forget about it; and with a profit of 300%, it will be ready to go to the gallows."
"
Seeing that the antiques industry is so popular, many criminals have also started to think about it. Tomb robbers who have been silent for more than half a century have also returned to their old business, and some people who have unique skills simply started to do it again. For a while,
All kinds of fake antiques have flowed into the market, and the people who make them are so skillful that they can almost look like the real thing. Even some highly accomplished experts often report that they have suffered losses.
Mr. Ma Weidu, a famous private collector, once said that in the early 1980s, tables, chairs, and benches made of sandalwood, huanghuali, etc. were piled everywhere in various scrap furniture stores in the capital. They were cheap, costing five yuan each.
, pick and choose at will, and are responsible for delivering it to your door. But by the late 1980s and early 1990s, the antique market was full of fakes. Mr. Ma also paid a lot of tuition, which shows that those counterfeiters
The level is so high.
The reason why Zhuang Rui knows this is thanks to Yang Wei. Yang's father is a lover of antiques. The reason why he calls him a lover rather than a collector is because he has collected a lot of things in the past ten years, and they are piled up.
A whole house, no less money was spent, millions were thrown into it.
But to be honest, Yang's father's professional appreciation level is really not that good, but he also likes to go to the market to pick up things. He accumulated a lot of things over and over again, and the collection of objects is quite impressive. However, he later invited a few experts to his home to appraise them.
, only to find that none of the miscellaneous antiques in the room were real.
I don’t know whether it’s because he doesn’t care about the money or because he has a good attitude. Yang’s father has not given up this hobby, but since then he has rarely appeared in the antique market, and has appeared more often in auction houses. However, in the Zhonghai antique world,
It was also because of his reputation that some people who felt that they were good at making old things on their hands often went to Yang's house to do it. The old man also spread some eye-catching anecdotes from time to time.
There is no one who doesn’t get his shoes wet when he often walks by the river. Even those who have been in this industry for decades often make mistakes. Zhuang Rui naturally doesn’t feel that he has read a few books about appreciating antiques at home a few days ago.
With the books, he can tell the authenticity of the objects piled on the table. What he relies on in his heart is still these eyes, but what he has to do now is to find an object that his eyes can see through, and then judge whether there is aura inside.
Determine whether it is genuine or fake.
Most of the things Boss Wang and Song Jun took out were made of bronze or jade. Zhuang Rui couldn't see through the aura in his eyes, so he turned to Shopkeeper Lu and took a closer look.
There were only three objects placed in front of Shopkeeper Lu. When he saw Zhuang Rui approaching, Shopkeeper Lu stood up and gave up his seat to facilitate Zhuang Rui's identification. Xu Wei, who was sitting next to Shopkeeper Lu, also exaggeratedly moved the chair under his seat.
He moved to the side and looked at Zhuang Rui with a playful expression. In his eyes, the young and inconspicuous Zhuang Rui dared to offend Miss Qin. He must take this opportunity to teach this young man how to behave.
Zhuang Rui didn't pay attention to Xu Wei's gaze. His attention was now attracted by the three objects in front of him. Zhuang Rui first picked up a wooden sculpture of a standing statue of Guanyin with a height of about 20 centimeters and looked at it. It could not be seen that it was made of water.
It is not made of wood, but the shape of this wood carving is very beautiful, and the face of Guanyin is lifelike. The surface of the wood carving is dim and quiet. When you hold it in your hand, you only feel that it is smooth and ripe, and the color is thick, revealing a gentle old atmosphere, giving people
A sense of vicissitudes of life.
Zhuang Rui has also read some books on antique appreciation in the past few days. According to the introduction in the book, based on the carving and coating of this wood carving, it should be an old object of some years, but compared to his half-hearted appreciation,
Level, Zhuang Rui was still willing to believe his eyes, lowered his head slightly, and Zhuang Rui released the spiritual energy in his eyes onto the wood carving.
"Depend on……".
After taking back the spiritual energy, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but cursed in his heart. The spiritual energy in his eyes now can only penetrate wood products less than one centimeter away, but as long as there is spiritual energy in this thing, it can still be absorbed, but
After the spiritual energy entered, the wood sculpture did not respond at all, which made Zhuang Rui, who originally wanted to add some spiritual energy, disappointed. Although Zhuang Rui was not sure that objects without spiritual energy must be fake, he still chose to believe in the spiritual energy in his eyes.
Raising his head, Zhuang Rui looked at the wood carving in his hand and said: "This wood carving of Guanyin is finely carved and thickly coated, like an old thing...".
"Of course, from the carving to the coating, this Buddha statue is definitely authentic. I can tell it without even holding it in my hand."
Before Zhuang Rui finished speaking, he was interrupted by Xu Wei who was standing next to him. Xu Wei had also been observing the wood carving and believed that it was a genuine one. After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, he couldn't help but mock Zhuang Rui for his good luck.
Got a bargain.
Looking at Xu Wei lightly, Zhuang Rui ignored him and continued: "However, I personally feel that this thing was made old later. To put it bluntly, this object is a fake."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked except for Shopkeeper Lu who remained calm. Xu Wei turned red and looked at Shopkeeper Lu, hoping that he would refute it.
"Xiaozhuang, there are two more objects there. You should also take a look...".
To everyone's surprise, shopkeeper Lu didn't say much, and just asked Zhuang Rui to comment on the remaining two items.
