Master descends to earth

Chapter 189 The Return of Time

"In 1968, Qiu Yanzhi moved to Switzerland to settle down. My sister was studying in London. She asked me to go to London to see what the auction house looked like. At that time, the first auction house I went to was Sotheby's, which later became Su Forby. Later, the lease of my store in Haiyuan Building ended, so I simply stopped the store and rushed to the auction house."

"When I went there for the first time, I didn't even know how to do it, and I didn't even know how to hold a sign. The big circle in the middle was rich and big bosses. Ordinary people stood near the table. Everyone behaved well. , The suit is neat."

"Basically, things with an estimated price of 1 to 2 yuan can be bought at this price. Unlike the current price tag of 100 yuan, you can't buy it if you raise it to more than [-] million yuan. The current valuation is just for fun."

Su Yuan shook his head and lamented that he had not caught up with the good times. There was too much hot money in the past ten years, and even billionaires may not be able to buy real treasures.

"At that time, among the most important bosses of the London auction house, there were only two Chinese faces, one was Qiu Yanzhi and the other was Dai Fubao."

"As soon as I stood in one place, I was chased away, saying that this is the place for Chinese people, and foreigners are over there. I looked up at the sign and quickly wrote it down with a pen on paper. I don't want to be ashamed again next time."

"There are also where the auction house enters, where it exits, and how to go. The different rules of the auction house in different countries can only be memorized in a stupid way. Anyway, there is only one purpose, and it must be bought in the end."

"Later, after I had been around for a long time, I recovered a lot of good things from back and forth. At that time, the official kiln market in Hong Kong Island was basically in my hands."

The old man was a little proud and said: "After Qiu Yanzhi passed away, a large number of collections began to enter the auction market, and Hu Huichun also began to sell the high-quality goods of Jiudelou, and many rising collector families are very close to me."

"So around 1985, the collection of official kilns reached the peak of my antique career, and the name of Robert Chang began to be heard in the international antique auction circle. I have walked this road for 20 years!"

"Later I met Julian Thompson, the president of Sotheby's Auction, who later became the famous Zhu Tangsheng. One day in 1971, he came straight to the point and made a request. Sotheby's wanted to open an auction branch on Hong Kong Island and needed my help."

"Two years later, Sotheby's first auction was held at the Mandarin Hotel, and it was dedicated to porcelain. Among the more than 100 lots, I sent more than 50 pieces of official kiln porcelain to the auction. It was a support for my friends."

Su Yuan smiled and said nothing, he really likes to hear these old stories, in fact, it’s not just Sotheby’s, after more than ten years, James of Christie’s in London came to Hong Kong Island to open a branch because of Zhang Zongxian’s suggestion, so there is now the Asian Art Center Foundation.

Even though his old friend James retired from the arena, Zhang Zongxian responded to Christie's requests.A phone call came, saying that there was no decent cover, the old man did not say anything, and very generously took out one or two emergency items, which is very normal.

But Zhang Zongxian has a rule in the auction market, he likes to make publicity, he likes the cover, as long as the things on the cover must be sold, otherwise there will be no next time.

As long as Zhang Zongxian is out of the game and must occupy the No. 1 card, many people would like to hide in the corner with the most inconspicuous card, for fear that others will notice.

Fortunately, Zhang Zongxian likes to wear a yellow suit in the crowd, holding the No. 1 plate in his left hand and a Cartier gold pen in his right hand.

Pay attention to good luck, buy the first one and the last one.

On March 1994, 3, the current leader Jiade held its first auction at the Great Wall Hotel. Zhang Zongxian took the No. 27 plate as usual. The first auction item was Wu Jingting's "Fishing and Joy", and the starting price was 1 yuan.

Zhang Zongxian was the first to bid 1.8 yuan, and it was sent out as soon as the auction was made.The audience immediately became active, and soon got a head start for this good fortune. A Treasure Island collector bid 2.8 yuan behind, and Zhang Zongxian immediately followed up with 3.8 yuan, and others would raise it again.

Zhang Zongxian simply stood up and said: Guardian is opening today, I wish them prosperity, [-], Fa Fa Fa!
This shout is the final word!
Later, as long as it was auctioned by Guardian, everything was topped, and they were all 18, 28, 380 million, and 680 million, all of which were 8, and 8 was a hair.

In fact, anyone who is familiar with Zhang Zongxian knows that he has always behaved well in the auction house. He has never actively asked for discounts or operated in the dark. .

Every piece of auction has been studied carefully. As long as you hold on to something you like, your friend even summed up the rules. If Zhang Zongxian is dressed brightly today, he will definitely sell it.

Zhang Zongxian put down his teacup, as if thinking of something, he said with a smile: "Later, more and more people participated in auctions, and many people followed me to buy, and I followed suit, like a follower, very annoying."

"So think of a way, take the catalog on the spot and pretend to be serious records, and then pretend to accidentally leave the book on the spot when you leave. As a result, someone quickly and quietly took the book and studied it desperately."

"Actually, it's all an empty plan. Every time I want to buy something, I discount it. Some discounts are real discounts. Sometimes, I just pretend to discount them to divert their attention to the things I don't want. Hahaha! "

"At that time, there was a piece of Zhang Daqian's splashed ink. Sotheby's priced it at 5. Zhu Tangsheng was the auctioneer at that auction. He quoted 15. I immediately said 50. He was stunned for a long time. gone."

"I said, Zhu Tangsheng, why don't you hit it? He dropped the hammer after hearing what I said, and then I left. Many people followed me out and complained: Oh, I want this thing too...I want to pay 100 million ...But I was frightened by you jumping and screaming like that."

"In 1985, there was a bowl with apricot forest and spring swallows made by Emperor Qianlong. A big boss from Baodao consulted me. He liked this bowl very much and asked me if I could buy it."

"I said the bowl was very good, but there was a little scratch on the core of the bowl. Then the boss gave up on buying it. I bought it for HK$110 million. Later, the boss said you didn't recommend me to buy it. Why did you buy it?"

"I told him I don't care about the scratch, can you?"

Su Yuan smiled and nodded. Facts have proved that Zhang Zongxian’s professionalism and integrity are the best rewards. In 2006, Christie’s held a special sale of Zhang Zongxian’s collection of imperial porcelain. It set a world auction record and became the second most expensive porcelain after Guiguzi went down the mountain.

Zhang Zongxian finally sighed: "I like the freedom of the money earned by the auction house. If I have money, I can eat fried shrimp, but if I don't have money, I can eat dried shrimp. I don't do business with peers, I don't do business with collectors, I don't get angry with others, I don't look at others face, how much money do business with how much money."

"At that time, collectors bought good things and kept them at home for more than 20 years, unless something happened at home. They sold things that were less than 10 years old. They were not considered collectors, let alone buying them today. Sell ​​it tomorrow.”

"A good baby doesn't want you to feed it, just leave it at home. Go and look at it if you like it, and it won't get angry with you. In five or ten years, it will still make money for you every day. The lowest return in 10 years is three times. If you buy Ordinary things will still have the same price after many years, so it’s good to be able to sell them.”

"After all, I am over 90 years old. When I am alone, I take the old photos from the past and draw crosses on those deceased people. There are more and more crosses, and there are fewer and fewer old friends who are antiques at the same time as me..."

(End of this chapter)