Zhang Jun looked calm and walked forward to observe carefully. Through perspective, he found that the iron incense burner was hollow, with a copper incense burner wrapped inside, and the gap between the two was filled with paraffin wax.
"It is very difficult to make this thing, and the maker must have spent a lot of effort." Zhang Jun thought to himself, "Then even if the thing inside is not a Xuande furnace, how much is it worth?"
Thinking of this, he pointed to the iron incense burner and asked: "Boss, how much does this cost per pound?"
When the boss heard this, he almost vomited blood and shouted: "Brother, you are buying cabbage, this is the real thing!"
Zhang Jun curled his lips and said: "Okay, boss, I know whether you are real or fake. I need an incense burner at home, please give me a price. Let me explain first, if you give me a higher price, I can turn around and leave, and buy one another day.
It can be used just like a stone incense burner.”
When encountering Zhang Jun like this, the boss secretly said that he was unlucky, but he had kept this iron incense burner for more than half a year. He had originally received it from the countryside for 100 yuan, but he had never been able to sell it.
After thinking for a while, the boss said: "Brother, do you think five hundred dollars is worth it?"
Zhang Jun turned around and left. The boss behind him became anxious and shouted: "Brother, stay back, four hundred!"
Zhang Jun said without looking back: "Two hundred yuan, if you don't sell it, you will lose it."
The boss gritted his teeth and thought that after all, he had made a hundred yuan, so he sold it to him. Thinking of this, he sighed helplessly and said, "Okay, two hundred is two hundred. The market has not been open for a day, so I will give you an advantage."
.”
Zhang Jun grinned and readily handed over two hundred dollars, then picked up the iron incense burner and walked away. He ran to Professor Guo and said, "Professor Guo, I bought a treasure."
Professor Guo was looking at something. When he turned around and took a look, he was happy and asked with a smile: "How much did it cost?"
Zhang Jun answered honestly: "Two hundred."
Professor Guo nodded: "Yes, now that steel prices are rising, we will be able to break even in a few years."
Everyone around him laughed when he heard this, and Zhang Jun also laughed along with "hehe".
Professor Guo was obviously joking just now, so he said seriously: "Xiao Zhang, it's normal to pick eyes on this street, but you have to learn to learn from every experience, so that you can hone your eyesight."
Zhang Jun nodded hurriedly and said, "Professor Guo, let me ask a question, how much is a Xuande furnace worth?"
Guo Lan also came over at this time. When he heard his question, he shook his head and sighed, and said deliberately: "Common, really vulgar, how can it be embarrassing for an archaeologist to ask such a question?"
Professor Guo glared at his daughter and said to Zhang Jun: "There are very few real Xuande furnaces in existence. They are exquisitely made and grand. Emperor Xuande only made three thousand pieces. Today, only a few pieces in the Palace Museum and two pieces in the British Museum have been partially destroyed.
People regard them as genuine, while the whereabouts of others are unknown.”
"There were many imitations of Xuande stoves in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. But even if they were imitations, many of them would be worth more than 700,000 to 800,000 yuan. Later, there were even more imitations, from the Republic of China to modern ones. You can
When I went out and took a look, almost every antique shop had a few Xuande stoves on display, but they were all imitations."
"As for the real Xuande incense burner, it is a priceless treasure and a national treasure. No one will sell it." Professor Guo said, "And even if someone comes out with a real Xuande incense burner, no one in the world can tell.
Its authenticity.”
Zhang Jun became anxious when he heard this and said, "What? So it's impossible to tell whether the Xuande furnace is authentic or not?" He also thought about making a fortune with the items in his arms, but who knew it would be like this.
Professor Guo looked at Zhang Jun with a half-smile but said, "Why, look at you, do you have a real Xuande stove in your hand?"
The latter laughed dryly, naturally he would not say it in such a public place.
Professor Guo explained the whole story in detail and said: "In order to build incense burners, Emperor Xuande of the Ming Dynasty ordered the palace craftsmen to refer to the famous porcelain kilns of Chai Kiln, Ru Kiln, Guan Kiln, Ge Kiln, Jun Kiln and Ding Kiln in the imperial palace.
We designed and supervised the production of a batch of incense burners based on the style of the incense burners, as well as historical documents such as "Archaeological Maps"."
"In order to ensure the quality of the incense burner, craftsmen selected dozens of precious metals such as gold and silver, and carefully cast them together with red copper more than ten times. The finished copper incense burner has a crystal-clear and warm color, making it a treasure among handicrafts.
As for the long period of history, Xuande stove became the general name for copper incense stove."
"However, in the three years of Xuande, only 3,000 incense burners were cast, and they were never produced again. They were all hidden deep in the forbidden palace, and ordinary people only knew their names but did not see their shapes. Now, after hundreds of years of ups and downs,
, the genuine copper incense burner cast in the third year of Xuande is extremely rare."
"In order to make huge profits, from the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, antique dealers continued to imitate Xuande furnaces. Even after Xuande furnaces stopped manufacturing, some officials who were responsible for casting copper incense burners summoned the original furnace craftsmen to follow the instructions of Xuande furnaces.
The drawings and process procedures are copied. These carefully cast imitations are comparable to the real ones, and even expert authorities cannot distinguish them. So far, of the many Xuande furnaces collected in major domestic museums, none of them can be recognized by many connoisseurs.
It is a real Xuande incense burner. The identification of authentic Xuande incense burners has become one of the unsolved problems in the domestic archaeological community."
After hearing this, Zhang Jun smiled bitterly and said: "In this way, even if the real Xuande was sold for three years, it may not be sold at a high price."
Professor Guo said: "That's possible. Some imitations are exquisite in workmanship and occasionally sell for sky-high prices. Some time ago, a Xuande stove in Hong Kong sold for a high price of 28 million."
Zhang Jun nodded and stopped talking. If it was only 28 million, he would not be in a hurry to sell the object in his arms. After all, it might be a real copper incense burner from the Xuande 3rd year.
When Professor Guo finally bought a bronze mirror, Zhang Jun stepped forward and whispered: "Professor Guo, let's go home. I have something to tell you."
Seeing how mysterious he was, Professor Guo was curious, but he resisted asking and nodded: "Okay, go back."
When they got to the car, Guo Lan asked first, with a suspicious look on her face: "Zhang Jun, we just arrived, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
Zhang Jun had a serious look on his face and said, "We can't say, we'll find out when we get home." His expression made Professor Guo not dare to ask, but the doubts in his stomach became more and more intense.
After finally returning home, Guo Lan quickly said: "Zhang Jun, can you tell me now? Did you find a treasure?"
Professor Guo also looked expectantly, staring at Zhang Jun and saying: "Xiao Zhang, judging from your appearance, you probably found something good, right?"
Zhang Jun smiled "hehe" and said: "Actually, it's not a good thing, because even if it is real, it may not be sold at a good price."
Professor Guo was surprised: "You mean Xuande furnace?" He was a smart man. He remembered that Zhang Jun had asked about Xuande furnace before, and he guessed it immediately.
Zhang Jun nodded, put down the iron incense burner in his arms, and said seriously: "That's it."
"puff!"
Guo Lan almost spit out the tea he just drank, then pointed at Zhang Jun and laughed "haha" and said: "Zhang Jun, I didn't expect you to be so humorous. It made me laugh to death."
Seeing this almost ugly iron incense burner, normal people would think that Zhang Jun was joking. Professor Guo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, saying: "You kid, you can even fool me, an old man."
Zhang Jun laughed "hehe" and said without arguing: "Professor Guo, do you have any tools for cutting steel at home?"
The father and daughter thought Zhang Jun was joking just now, but when they saw him making a request again, their curiosity came up again. Professor Guo led Zhang Jun into his studio, pointed to a cutting machine and said: "This machine
It’s what I usually use for cutting ceramics, and it’s no problem cutting steel, Zhang Jun, what do you want to do?”
Zhang Jun walked over and tried the machine, and quickly became familiar with the operation method. Then he placed the iron incense burner on it and fixed it, turned on the power and started cutting.
Seeing this scene, both Guo Lan and his daughter opened their eyes wide, vaguely thinking of something in their minds, and a hint of expectation gradually appeared on their faces. When Zhang Jun was about to cut off a piece of iron sheet, the two of them were so nervous that they didn't even dare to raise their eyebrows.
out.
"Ding!"
A hollow furnace ear fell to the ground, and the paraffin filling the hollow part was melted by the heat generated by cutting.
"Wax?" Professor Guo's eyebrows twitched, his face changed, and he blurted out, "There must be an incense burner inside. This is the owner's method of hiding treasures. Xiao Zhang, you may have really found a treasure!
"
Zhang Jun smiled without saying a word and continued cutting. Under his perspective, the cutting was very precise and did not damage the copper incense burner inside at all. About half an hour later, a copper incense burner wrapped in paraffin appeared in front of several people.
Professor Guo quickly took the incense burner and used a tool to scrape off most of the paraffin on the old surface. Then he found a bucket of gasoline and put the copper incense burner into it to melt the paraffin. Then he cleaned it with several solvents one by one, and finally cleaned it separately.
Wipe with soft cotton and fine silk.
Soon, a copper incense burner with a simple and majestic appearance, yellow and red, and a warm patina appeared in front of everyone. It was cast with extremely exquisite patterns on the outside, without a trace of rust, and it was shiny.
Seeing this copper incense burner, Professor Guo was completely obsessed and murmured: "Such a beautiful thing, even if it was not made by the emperor in the third year of Xuande, it must have been imitated by the casting officials in the Ming Dynasty. It is so perfect!
"
Guo Lan also stared at the incense burner and couldn't help but said: "I didn't expect that the incense burner could be so beautiful."
Professor Guo then looked at Zhang Jun and said, "Xiao Zhang, you are willing to show us such a valuable thing, thank you."
Zhang Jun smiled "haha": "Professor Guo is too polite. I don't know whether it is authentic or not, so I want you to take a look at it."
Professor Guo said: "To be honest, I have never seen what a real Xuande three-year copper incense burner looks like, so I can't judge. Well, if you trust me, I will invite several people who have high attainments in bronze appraisal.
Experts came here and we all tasted and appraised it together.”
When he spoke, he looked nervous, fearing that Zhang Jun would not agree. For an old archaeologist, being able to see and study artifacts handed down from ancient times is the happiest moment in their lives.
Zhang Jun did not hesitate, nodded and said: "Of course you can, just leave the things here with Professor Guo first, and let me know when you have the results."