"Ah?" Zhan Huafeng was slightly startled and slowly put down the inkstone.
Carl Smith saw Zhan Huafeng put down the inkstone again, and realized that it was judged to be a fake again. He frowned slightly, but still had a smile on his face. He picked up the inkstone and said, "Mr. Zhan, why not
Do you like this inkstone? As far as I know, this is a very famous inkstone from the Song Dynasty. Someone once asked me to buy it, but I was reluctant. If it weren't for Mr. Zhan, I would never buy it."
Zhan Huafeng looked at Xue Chen and asked with his eyes what was wrong with this inkstone.
Xue Chen had no intention of saving face for this treacherous and arrogant foreigner. He directly pointed out the problem with the inkstone, pointed at the carved dragon on it, and said: "The dragon is wrong..."
"The dragon is wrong?" Carl Smith raised his eyebrows and said hurriedly, "This dragon is so beautiful, how could it be wrong?"
"You have already said that it is from the Song Dynasty, but you don't know that in ancient China, the dragon represented the destined emperor, the emperor! Who would dare to carve a dragon at will except the emperor? Let alone a five-clawed dragon, like this
Once the inkstone is made, just wait for the Nine Clan to be executed. The carving is good, but it just made a fatal mistake." Xue Chen's tone was calm, but he pointed out the problem with a sudden flash of blood.
"Mr. Smith, you heard me, this is another imitation!" Zhan Huafeng was really unhappy. Of the five antiques he took out, two of the two he liked were actually fakes and imitations!
Carl Smith looked a little uncomfortable and coughed slightly: "Mr. Zhan, please look at the other three items. I promise, they must all be true."
"I hope so." Zhan Huafeng said with suppressed anger. He picked up the piece of jade about ten centimeters in diameter. He looked down and saw that the white jade was embossed with pictures of ladies. When the light shone, it shone beautifully.
of luster.
Jade is an elegant thing and occupies an extraordinary position in the hearts of Chinese people.
Zhan Huafeng thought that it would be nice to give a piece of jade as a gift, of course, provided that it was genuine.
"Xue Chen, is this jade jade real?" Zhan Huafeng asked carefully.
Xue Chen looked at it, touched it, and said, "Mr. Zhan, this jade is real jade."
Zhan Huafeng felt happy, but Xue Chen's next words made him depressed again.
"Mr. Zhan, all jade jewelry is roughly divided into three grades: A, B, and C. Grade A is natural and has not been chemically treated. Grade B refers to those that have defects and has been treated. Grade C is those that have been treated.
It is the worst grade, such as grinding some low-quality jewelry into pieces and then using glue to fuse it together."
Xue Chen pointed at the jade in Zhan Huafeng's hand.
"And this piece of jade, first of all, it is indeed a piece of jade, which should be made in Russia. First, it has been pickled and bleached to remove most of the impurities, so it looks very white. But because of this, it is white.
It's very dry, and some work has been done on the surface, and some kind of glue has been applied on it, so it feels smooth to the touch. It doesn't have a normal luster, but a slight sheen. In the end, the only thing worthy of praise is that
The embossing was done with a lot of thought, it was not a batch product made with a digital machine tool, but it was made by hand."
After hearing Xue Chen's words, Zhan Huafeng twitched the corner of his mouth and wished he could throw the jade in his hand to the ground!
Zong Yu, who had been standing aside like a piece of wood, glared at Carl Smith.
This time, Zhan Huafeng did not question Carl Smith, but planned to take a look at the last two calligraphy and paintings first.
Carl Smith stood aside and said nothing, but looked at Xue Chen with unfriendly eyes.
Two calligraphy and paintings are spread out, one is a picture of plum blossoms proud of the snow, and the other is a picture of people sitting and drinking with good fortune, wealth and longevity.
Facing these two paintings, Zhan Huafeng naturally pays more attention to the latter. After all, the meaning is more auspicious and it is very suitable to be used as a birthday gift.
"Xue Chen, let's take a look at these two calligraphy and paintings. Are there any problems?"
Zhan Huafeng took a step away and asked Xue Chen to get closer and appraise the last two paintings.
Xue Chen saw that Zhan Huafeng was more optimistic about this picture of the Three Stars Sitting and Drinking, so he first set his sights on it. At the same time, he gently touched the paper with his right hand, looked at the signature and seal, and thought for a while.
stand up.
After a moment, he shook his head: "The signature and seal are the works of the Ming Dynasty painter Li Zai. His painting skills are very good. The three stars of fortune, longevity and longevity are sitting around the table drinking. The expressions and postures of the three old gods are perfectly expressed, and
The kind eyes and brows are vividly reflected on the paper..."
Zhan Huafeng's eyes lit up when he heard Xue Chen's praise for the painting.
Because Xue Chen spoke in Chinese, Carl Smith couldn't understand it, but he could "observe people's words" and knew that Xue Chen was commenting on the figure painting. Seeing Zhan Huafeng's happy look, he also quietly raised the corner of his mouth.
But the smile on Zhan Huafeng's face did not last long.
"However, it is still an imitation." Xue Chen finally concluded the painting.
"Imitation?" Zhan Huafeng said solemnly.
"Well, it should be an imitation of the Ming Dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty. The fault lies in the paper used. This paper has only been slightly yellowed until now, and there is not even any sign of cracking. It can be said that the paper quality is excellent. If you look carefully, you can find
There are fine cross-shaped fiber outlines on the paper. This kind of paper was invented by a paper mill called Qu's in the late Qing Dynasty. The price is not low. A great painter of the Ming Dynasty used Qing Dynasty paper to paint, unless he traveled through time.
.”
Zhan Huafeng followed Xue Chen's instructions and saw the cross-shaped fiber outline keenly. When he looked at the other painting next to him, it was not there. This shows that this kind of paper is indeed special.
The fourth one, or a fake?
Zhan Huafeng looked a little sad. He turned around and talked about Xue Chen's appraisal just now while talking to Carl Smith.
"Carl Smith, what did you say this time?" Zhan Huafeng asked in a serious tone.
Carl Smith looked at Xue Chen with a very surprised look. He was really surprised. He never expected that the young man brought by Zhan Huafeng would be so powerful?
As the owner, he naturally knows the authenticity of the five antique artifacts, and the other three are just fine. As for the picture of the Three Stars of Fortune, Luxu and Longevity sitting and drinking, among the five or six appraisers he invited, only one appraised it.
The old gentleman invited from New York saw the problem, and the reason was the same. At that time, the old gentleman also said that there were no more than three people in the entire United States who could tell the authenticity of this painting!
There were no more than three people, excluding the old gentleman, there were only two people left, and now he met one? And he was invited by Zhan Huafeng by such a coincidence.
Carl Smith had a toothache. Looking at Zhan Huafeng's ugly face, he also knew that the Chinatown boss was angry. Although he was not afraid of the other party, he could not always make enemies.
He hurriedly pointed to the last painting and said: "Mr. Zhan, I want you to guarantee that this painting is absolutely authentic. I am willing to use my honor as a guarantee."
"I hope so." Zhan Huafeng frowned. Four of the five antiques were fakes. This was not just a problem with the antiques, but rudeness to him. Do you think he, Zhan Huafeng, could be bullied?
Carl Smith walked aside and rummaged through a cabinet against the wall. Soon, he came over with a piece of paper and said, "Mr. Zhan, please see, here are the signatures of three Chinese appraisal experts.
Everyone is sure this painting is real."
Taking the sheet, Zhan Huafeng glanced at it. He had heard of two of the three names on it. They were indeed well-known appraisers and collectors. If Xue Chen hadn't appeared, he would have definitely invited them.
One of my companions came here.
Zhan Huafeng read it carefully and found that it was indeed the appraisal report for the last picture of plum blossoms and snow. He thought that since the three appraisers jointly signed it, there should be nothing wrong with it.
Furthermore, Carl Smith dared to come up with fakes, but he would never dare to falsify the appraisal report, because that would have gone beyond the rules of the game and crossed the bottom line!
But compared to the first four items, he had a so-so feeling about this picture of plum blossoms and snow, and it was not a particularly good birthday gift.
Just when Zhan Huafeng was thinking about asking Carl Smith to bring out other antiques for his reference, Xue Chen was also appraising this last painting.
He did not use the ability of Jade Eyes on the previous four antiques, but relied on his own sharp eyesight. When it was the turn of the last piece, he looked at it particularly carefully.
"Xue Chen, you don't need to read it. This is real. It has been appraised by three Chinese appraisers and signed. Besides, I don't like this painting and I won't buy it," Zhan Huafeng said.
"Really? Not necessarily..." Xue Chen's eyes flashed a few times before he spoke in a deep voice.
"Huh?" Zhan Huafeng's expression changed slightly and he blurted out, "Xue Chen, what do you mean? Are you saying that the last item is also a fake, and this appraisal report is also fake and forged?"
Xue Chen glanced at the appraisal report, remained silent for a while, and said: "The report is not fake, and the signatures are all genuine, but there is indeed something wrong with this painting."
"What do you mean?" Zhan Huafeng was a little confused. Since the three appraisers have signed and certified that it is authentic, why is there still a problem?
Seeing Zhan Huafeng's sudden change of expression, Carl Smith took two steps forward and said with a loud and firm voice: "This must be genuine, there is no problem at all, but it has the signatures of three appraisers, how can it be fake?"
?!"
"Mr. Zhan, please believe me, this work is indeed real!" Carl Smith emphasized his tone. He took out five antiques, four of which were fake and one was real, just to keep them.
He was glad that he had a little leeway, otherwise Zhan Huafeng would have gone berserk if all five items were identified as fakes.
"Xue Chen, look..." Zhan Huafeng also prefers that this painting is fine.
Xue Chen lowered his eyes and stared at the painting in front of him: "I have said that the report is true and the signature is also true, but Mr. Zhan, there is another possibility, that is, all three people who signed it saw it
I misjudged it and made a wrong identification."
Xue Chen said these words in English, so both Zhan Huafeng and Carl Smith were surprised. (To be continued)