Chapter 005 Wood carving, pot holding, ancient inkstone
"These antiques are Lao Liu's collection, I definitely can't take them casually.
"But if you just take a look, it's nothing to broaden your eyesight. It's also a good thing for me."
Thinking of this, Shen Yu picked up the wood carving in the first grid and observed it silently.
This is a mahogany figure sculpture of "Han Xiangzi", one of the Eight Immortals of Shangdong in Taoism.
The condition is extremely well preserved, with natural patina, no dirt and grime, and the material used is extremely precious small-leaf red sandalwood.
Although the carving is not top-notch, it is not bad, and the knife work can be said to be excellent.
The characters' clothes are flowing in the wind, lifelike. After gazing at it for a long time, the whole wooden sculpture seems to exude a free and easy, indescribable immortal charm.
"What a good thing." Shen Yu praised silently in his heart.
In antique appraisal, Shen Yu specializes in calligraphy and painting, and also studies porcelain.
I also put a lot of effort into the bronze mirrors, ancient jades, and seals in the miscellaneous items, but I didn’t do much in-depth research on the wood carvings in the bamboo and wood vessels.
But even so, he had handled more than a dozen wood carvings when he was at Bao Yuxuan. As soon as he got his hands on this red sandalwood carving, Shen Yu could basically conclude that it was from the Qing Dynasty, and it was probably from the mid-Qing Dynasty.
Not to mention movies and TV series, Shen Yu has also read most of the Ming and Qing novels about Han Xiangzi, such as "Journey to the East", "The Complete Biography of Han Xiangzi", "The Story of the Eight Immortals", etc.
This was also the reason why he recognized the origin of wood carving at first sight. If it were anyone else, he might not have been able to recognize that it was a wood carving of Han Xiangzi.
There is no other, because this wooden sculpture of Han Xiangzi did not wear Taoist attire, but wore a Confucian shirt and dressed like a scholar.
In fact, apart from Taoist legends and literary stories, Han Xiangzi in real history was a scholar.
His real name is Han Xiang, with the courtesy name Beizhu. He is the great-nephew of Han Yu, a great writer in the Tang Dynasty. He is diligent and studious. He was a high school Jinshi in the imperial examination and eventually became the Prime Minister of Dali Temple.
With good materials and fine craftsmanship, it is more than two hundred years old. This rosewood sculpture can be sold in any antique shop for at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, and this is the lowest price.
If you meet a collector who likes ancient wood carvings, it is possible to double or even triple the price.
If you go to an auction and meet a rich person who likes wood carvings, it is not uncommon to spend more than a million.
Last year, when Shen Yu was still at Baoyu Xuan, he participated in a miscellaneous special auction organized by the top domestic art auction company with the owner of the store, Chu Yaozong.
An early Qing Dynasty red sandalwood sculpture of Zhang Guo whose appearance was not as good as this one had a starting price of 200,000 yuan. After several rounds of price increases, it was sold for 1.23 million yuan.
Even if Lao Liu offered to give such a valuable thing away, Shen Yu would not dare to take it.
"Brother Liu, what do you mean by this? Guilt? It's not that serious. When I saw your copy of "Ta Ge Tu", didn't I also want to pick up your flaws?
"We are the eldest brother, not to mention the second brother. We are both pretty much the same. Let's do this. If you are free in the evening, let's go to the 'Xiankelai Hotpot Restaurant' outside the market. I will treat you and you will be the host. ,How?"
As he spoke, Shen Yu carefully placed the wood carving into the wooden box lattice.
Lao Liu waved his hands and said solemnly: "These are two different things. It is common for us to pick up on each other in the antique market. It is not a problem, but what I did today...
"Hey, let's not talk about it. Anyway, I am going to give you something. If you don't take it today, I will give it to you in the store tomorrow."
Shen Yu was stunned and asked: "Seriously?"
"Of course!"
Shen Yu smiled and took out the blue and white porcelain vase from the second compartment. As soon as he took it, Shen Yu realized that he had seen it wrong. It turned out to be a blue and white porcelain pot with a curved handle and a bulging belly.
The holding pot is the wine pot or teapot used for pouring wine and tea at ancient banquets.
The whole body of this pot is painted with blue and white figures and landscapes. The decoration is clearly layered and the blue and white hair color is pure. It can be said that it is both elegant and heavy. It looks like ancient porcelain.
The bottom of the flipped pot has the six-character double-line regular script inscription "Made in the Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty" on the bottom.
"This old Liu has been working hard in this antique market for more than ten years, and he really has good things in his hands."
Shen Yu only looked at it for more than a minute and already saw that it was an old porcelain imitated from the Qianlong official kiln by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty.
The imitation craftsmanship is exquisite, and the price of this blue and white teapot is higher than that of the Han Xiangzi rosewood carving just now.
Without any hesitation, Shen Yu put the pot back to its original place.
It's too expensive. Now he just looks at it, joking, and takes away things worth hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands?
Impossible.
"Eh? This inkstone?"
After putting down the pot, before Shen Yu could withdraw his hand, he suddenly shouted something, and his eyes were fixed on the ancient inkstone in the fifth compartment of the box.
This is a rather large Duan inkstone. The inkstone is made into a rectangular shape and is made according to the shape when selecting the stone. It is bold and bold yet still has graceful lines.
The inkstone pool is not big and only occupies a small part of the bottom of the inkstone surface.
Above the inkstone, there is a relief carving on a mountain tiger looking up at the moon. In terms of image, it should be a fat tiger. It is more cute than powerful. Its two tiger eyes are so smiling that it makes people not only afraid but also fond of it.< /p>
It would take four to five hundred years for the patina on the inkstone to form.
Shen Yu couldn't help but gently pick up the inkstone. The back of the inkstone was opened slightly and he covered his hand with a Tai Chi diagram engraved on it. There were also some writings around it that may have been blurred by the age.
The only pity is that there is a crack in the inkstone. Although it is not very long or wide, it is no longer possible to grind ink. It is basically a residual inkstone.
Of course, if you ask an expert to repair it, it can still be used.
Seeing this, Shen Yu could already conclude that this was an ancient inkstone from the early Ming Dynasty, and it was also an ancient inkstone he had seen before.
When Lao Liu saw Shen Yu, he was silent for a long time, "This inkstone was packaged and sold to me by a colleague in the market. I have no research on inkstones, but I had someone identify it. It is a Ming Dynasty Duan inkstone with a wide open door.
"How about it? If you like it, take it!"
Hearing Lao Liu's words, Shen Yu suddenly came back to his senses and immediately smiled and said: "Brother Liu, I have seen this inkstone before.
"A few days ago, someone brought this inkstone to my store for sale. I gave him seven thousand and he refused to sell it. I just wanted to raise the price, but he turned away and left without even calling back. I regretted it for a while. It’s been a while.”
Lao Liu asked in surprise: "Is there such a thing?"
Shen Yu nodded: "Well, that man is quite tall, but very thin, as if he is malnourished.
"By the way, there seems to be something wrong with his left hand. If I read it correctly, he only has two fingers on his left hand."
Hearing this, Lao Liu suddenly said: "That's right, the colleague I'm talking about is actually him, we all call him Wu Qizhi.
"His hand was cut off when he was cutting grass with a guillotine when he was a child. Something happened to his family recently. His old mother was ill and his wife also broke her leg. The family couldn't cook for a while, so he simply sold everything on the stall and went back to his hometown. ”
"I offered 7,000 yuan for this inkstone and he didn't even sell it. Brother Liu, how much did you charge for it?"
Lao Liu pretended to be angry and said: "Don't worry about how much I charge. If I say I don't want money, I won't. Xiao Shen, you usually talk and do things very happily. Why are you so boring today? Take it away.
"By the way, didn't you just say that something happened in the store? Now go back and deal with it."
Shen Yu turned over the inkstone and thought to himself: "It is as black as paint and as smooth as jade. After a little repair, it is a top-quality Duan inkstone. How can Lao Liu give it away as soon as he says it? This is not in line with his cunning and cunning character!"
Based on Shen Yu's understanding of the antique market, he can sell a Ming Dynasty Duan inkstone with a large opening in his hand for tens of thousands to eight thousand yuan in any antique shop. If he finds one he likes, it's no problem for two to thirty thousand yuan.
"If you don't understand, just don't think about it. Anyway, I'm short of items in the store now. He wants to give them to me. Should I buy the assembly? Since the items are real and I bought them with money, let alone a fairy, he is a god. The game can't trick me!" Shen Yu thought.
"Well, since Brother Liu your family has a great business, I will keep this inkstone.
"But the money still has to be given after all, brothers will settle the accounts tomorrow!
"In this way, I will add another thousand yuan to you on the basis of your purchase price. In addition, I hope that Brother Liu will write me a receipt..."
"Catch the thief, catch the thief, please help me, that guy didn't give me money to buy anything, and even took my mobile phone."
Before Shen Yu finished speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by a roar in the distance. He looked up and saw two people chasing each other about two or three hundred meters away.
The person running in front was a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old. He was holding a mobile phone tightly in his hand and was running along the bluestone curb in the market. He looked back while running, with an extremely nervous expression on his face.
The person chasing him was a fat middle-aged man in his forties with a short haircut.
The fat man was covered in fat but had good physical strength. He was not thrown away by the young man, and there was only about twenty meters between them.
If the fat man exerts more force, he may catch up with the young man in front of him at any time.
***The author has something to say***
Please invest and recommend. If not, please use your little hands to make a fortune and add it to your collection. (Poor)
