In the Chinese Antiques District, the most common shapes Yu Fei discovered were various Buddha statues. From the more common copper Buddha statues, porcelain Buddha statues, and wooden Buddha statues to the relatively rare iron Buddha statues, and even ivory Buddha statues. Almost every stall has them.
There are several Buddha statues.
In the past few years, antique Buddha statues have been sought after by collectors, which can be said to be brilliant. They have been highly sought after by collectors from all walks of life, and the transaction prices have also hit new highs. At an autumn auction at Sotheby's in Hong Kong in 2000,
A gilt-gilt seated statue of Sakyamuni from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty was successfully sold for HK$123.59 million, setting a world record for Chinese Buddhist statues at auction. This shows that gold and bronze Buddha statues have broad investment prospects and room for appreciation.
The Buddha statue market has become popular, and fakes have also emerged. Because there are many stalls, Yu Fei does not have the patience to look at them one by one. Instead, he uses the energy of chaos to roughly check and finds that more than 100% of the stalls are inside.
Buddha statues in the 60s and 70s are all modern handicrafts. There are no real or fake Buddhas, only old and new ones.
Yu Feijun, be careful. Many of the products here are fake and old. Mitsui Saori whispered in Yu Fei's ear. Although she knew that Yu Fei's appraisal level was very high, she was still a little worried.
Mitsui Saori's panting made Yu Fei feel itchy for a while. I don't know why, after the breakthrough of the Chaos Qi, his resistance to women seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. In fact, this is inseparable from the nature of the Chaos Qi.
Okay. Taoism emphasizes inaction and letting nature take its course, which is completely different from the Buddhist idea of asceticism. After the breakthrough of Chaos Qi, this idea has unknowingly affected Yu Fei.
Thank you for the reminder. Yu Fei stopped in front of a stall.
The stall owner was a woman in her thirties. When she saw Yu Fei stop, she immediately became energetic. Her stall was not in a good location. There were no attractive antiques inside, so few people were interested. Yu Fei's arrival made
She was a little overjoyed.
What attracted Yu Fei was a gilt-bronze Buddha statue from the Ming Dynasty. The Buddha statue was in very good condition, including the base, which was well preserved and the coating was thick. It looked like an old object. The Buddha statue had a plump face, thin eyebrows, long eyes, and a high nose.
.Thin lips, wide forehead, big and droopy ears. The expression is solemn but soft. The figure is relatively well-proportioned and coordinated, the clothes are light and close-fitting, the lines are flowing and soft, and the pleats turn freely. This is also in line with the characteristics of Ming Dynasty Buddhist statues.
In the backlight of the Buddha statue, there are many various patterns composed of auspicious clouds, curly grass and auspicious animals. The depictions are very detailed.
The so-called backlight is the screen-like ornament behind the Buddha statue. It is intended to indicate that the Buddha's light shines in all directions. Generally speaking, there should be six patterns on the backlight, namely, the roc represents compassion, the whale represents protection, the dragon girl represents salvation, and the boy represents salvation.
The lion represents freedom, and the elephant represents a good teacher. In fact, more backlights are composed of various auspicious patterns, such as seven treasures and eight treasures. Some even only have some flower and grass scroll patterns.
Although this Buddha statue seems to be a gilt bronze Buddha statue from the Ming Dynasty as stated in the introduction, but for some reason, Yu Fei always felt that something was wrong with this Buddha statue.
Yu Feijun, what's wrong? Seeing Yu Fei holding a Buddha statue and turning it over and over, Mitsui Saori asked.
I have a glimpse of this Buddha statue. Yu Fei said.
At one point, Mitsui Saori repeated strangely.
Yu Fei then remembered that although Mitsui Saori was proficient in Chinese, she still couldn't understand some jargon. He explained with a smile: In the antique shop, one glance means that this thing is very good and has a relatively high value.
Oh, so that’s it. Mitsui Saori smiled and said: Then I also have a look at Feijun.
Hey, don't use this indiscriminately. Yu Fei quickly stopped and said.
Mitsui Saori giggled, and Yu Fei realized that Mitsui Saori was deliberately teasing him.
After looking at it for a while, he still couldn't figure it out, so Yu Fei had to use the Chaos Qi to test it again. After this test, Yu Fei immediately understood why he didn't find the problem. It was because this Buddha statue was faked by grafting flowers and wood onto each other.
As the name suggests, grafting means reassembling several fragments that originally belonged to different utensils to form a new, relatively complete shape. Generally, there are several methods of grafting. The first is the splicing method, such as matching a Ming Dynasty mount with a
Buddha statues from the Qing Dynasty to increase their prices. The second method is to piece together the old and new. For example, if the Buddha statue is missing a base or backlight, then a new base and new backlight will be installed to serve as a complete old product.
Generally speaking, this kind of counterfeiting method has a relatively high value, and the technical requirements are also very strict, so the price is also on the high side. Of course, there are also some counterfeiting methods that cannot be put on the table. For example, the method of making replicas of genuine products is to use the genuine ones.
Methods such as remaking a model, making Buddha statues according to traditional crafts, and then making them old, etc. Of course, there are also some methods of forgery, which I will not go into details here.
The Buddha statue in Yu Fei's hand should be a fake made by piecing together old and new ones.
Although this Buddha statue in good condition is not complete, Yu Fei still likes it because it is very finely made.
Why is this Buddha statue sold? Yu Fei asked. His accent with a strong Tokyo accent almost made the stall owner think that he was Japanese.
Three hundred thousand. The woman said simply.
Three hundred thousand yuan Yu Fei was startled, the price was too high, but he quickly realized that the woman should have said yen. Then he asked uncertainly: yen
The woman looked at him strangely and thought to herself, "What is it if it's not Japanese yen?"
Three hundred thousand yen is RMB. This price is not high, at least it is much lower than similar Buddha statues in China.
However, Yu Fei was used to visiting China's antique markets and had long been accustomed to asking for exorbitant prices and paying them back on the spot, so he made a habitual counteroffer: one hundred thousand
This is also a normal counteroffer range in China, not to mention that this Buddha statue is still spliced.
The stall owner had an incredible expression on his face, as if he was insulted. He snatched the Buddha statue from Yu Fei's hand with one hand and said coldly: I won't sell it anymore.
Now Yu Fei feels strange, what's wrong? This is
Yu Feijun may not know something. Mitsui Saori said: In Japan's antique market, the asking prices are generally more realistic and will not make high prices. If there are too many counter-offers, the seller will generally think that it is right.
own insult.
Oh, and this kind of thing made Yu Fei a little dumbfounded. He had just paid back two-thirds of the price, which was not a small amount. No wonder the female stall owner was angry.
It didn't matter if it was Yu Fei. Although this Buddha statue was in good condition and was made with fine details, it was not worth much. Since the female stall owner didn't want to sell it, he didn't care.
However, just as he was about to leave, he was surprised to find that there seemed to be something hidden in the hollow belly of the Buddha statue.
The thing is not big, and it is adhered to the inner wall of the Buddha statue, so if you don't pay attention, you can't see it clearly.
Yu Fei also discovered it by accident. At first, he thought it was a flaw left during the production process of the Buddha statue. But he soon realized that something was wrong, because this piece was different from the Buddha statue.
The ages are not consistent.
After carefully identifying it for a long time, Yu Fei recognized that the lump of something turned out to be a wax ball, and there seemed to be a note hidden in the wax ball, but because it was kneaded together, even with the energy of chaos in Feidu
I can't see what words are written on the paper, I can just vaguely see some lines.
With this discovery, the steps Yu Fei had just taken came back.
Yu Feijun, let’s go. Sanjing Saori urged. Because of the counter-offer just now, the female stall owner was very unfriendly and didn’t have a good impression of Mitsui Saori who followed Yu Fei. This made Sanjing Saori
Very uncomfortable.
Wait, Yu Fei said. Then he walked up to the stall owner and said, "I didn't understand the rules just now. I apologize to you. But I really like this Buddha statue, and I still hope you can give way to me."
Mitsui Saori really didn't expect that Yu Fei would be interested in a Buddha statue.
Since he is willing, just let him buy it. He shouldn't be short of the money anyway.
Three hundred thousand. The woman said again.
Good deal, Yu Fei said without hesitation. Three hundred thousand yen is indeed not much in his heart.
Regarding this, Mitsui Saori could only be speechless. To be continued...