The years when I was reborn as a giant in the antique world

"Okay." Yunzhou glanced at the stall owner, and the accent was obviously not from the locals, and he probably came to S city recently.However, the economy of City S is indeed better developed than many cities in Huaguo, and a large number of people flow in every year.

He was used to this phenomenon, and squatted down to examine the porcelain slowly.

He has also been to other stalls in the past few days, and what he remembers most is that a stall owner in front of him directly placed the porcelain on the ground carelessly, without any protection around him.There are many people in the antique market, and the porcelain is fragile, so if you accidentally break it, you have to pay for it.

It is said that last month, a customer reported to the police on the grounds of blackmail by the stall owner. At that time, this incident was widely spread, and it aroused a lot of discussion in the antique market.

However, it is difficult to determine who is responsible for this kind of dispute. Under the mediation of the police, the customer paid part of the amount of compensation, and it seems that it is not very useful to order the vendor to correct it.

In short, Yunzhou always detours when he sees such stalls in the future.

But the stall owner in front of him is different. He laid a thick flannel blanket on the bottom of the porcelain and protected the edges so that even if the porcelain falls down, it will not be broken. He is very careful.

Yun Zhou's impression of him suddenly improved a lot.

Among the more than 20 pieces of porcelain, he saw the chicken bowl cup placed in the middle at a glance.

When it comes to chicken cups, most people must have heard of its name.

At Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong Island, a Ming Chenghua Doucai Chicken Crock Cup sold for 2.8 million Hong Kong dollars (about 2.3 million RMB). This transaction price set a new world auction record for Huaguo porcelain!

The Ming Dynasty was famous for its fighting colors. The Chenghua chicken cup was used as a wine vessel. It is said that the Chenghua Emperor (Zhu Jianshen) specially made it to please his concubine Wan Guifei who accompanied him since he was a child. It is the emperor's favorite imperial wine cup and is very precious. .

Ming Wanli's "Records of Shenzong" records, "Shenzong's fashionable food, there is a pair of Chenghua colored chicken cups in front of the imperial court, worth [-]." "Wanli Ye Huo Bian" also has a record of "Cheng Kiln wine glasses, each pair of Zhibo silver hundred gold". ①

Ming Wanli was only a hundred years away from Chenghua, and it has become so precious.

Mr. Ma, a famous collector, once calculated that according to the prices in the Ming Dynasty, "worth one hundred thousand" is equivalent to more than 5000 million.And now 400 years have passed, is 2.8 million Hong Kong dollars expensive?

Doesn't seem too expensive either.

Because the chicken cups are so precious, since the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there has been an endless stream of people imitating the kiln chicken cups. After that, the imitations of the three dynasties of Kang, Yong, and Qian in the Qing Dynasty were the most successful.

Also at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong Island, the Qing Yongzheng Doucai Chicken Crock Cup (a pair) was sold for more than 3300 million Hong Kong dollars. It is amazing that even the imitation ones are so valuable!

However, this is related to the manufacturing process and exquisiteness of the porcelain. Not every Doucai chicken cup can be auctioned for such a high price.

There are very few Chenghua Chicken Crock Cups in the Ming Dynasty, and there are only 19 pieces in the world (currently known). Except for 4 pieces that are in private collections, the rest are collected in major museums.

The one in front of Yun Zhou is definitely not a chicken bowl cup from the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, it may have been imitated in the Qing Dynasty, and of course it is more likely to be a modern handicraft.

He gently picked it up and observed it carefully, and measured the mouth of the cup with his fingers. The size was the same as the chicken bowl cup in the Chenghua period, with a diameter of about 8 centimeters.

This is normal, except for the 'innovation' of chicken bowl cups during the Qianlong period, other imitations must be almost the same size as the real ones.

The most important feature of Chenghua Chicken Crock Cup is that the cup wall is as thin as a cicada's wings, and the carcass is white and transparent to the light.

In the next 100 years, later generations could not make such perfect porcelain, which shows its exquisite craftsmanship.

The inner wall of this chicken cup in front of me is smooth, and the glaze is moist, even and bright. Although it does not reach the "thin as a cicada's wings" in the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the glaze is delicate and has a bit of charm.

The body of the cup completely imitates the pattern of the Huaji cup, and some parts are discolored. With travertine flowers as intervals, two groups of pictures are formed:

On one side, the rooster is facing the female hen. The female hen seems to be about to peck at the food, surrounded by three chicks;

The two pictures are vivid and vivid, implying the Chenghua Emperor's attachment to Concubine Wan Gui, and at the same time, his hopes for family harmony and longevity for his son. ②

Yun Zhou looked at the base, and in the blue and white columns in the center of the bottom foot was written the six-character double-line regular script of "Daming Chenghua Annual System". The font is generous and elegant, and there are traces of wear and tear on the bottom.

It looks like it was a Kangxi imitation, and it seems to be...really?

Just when he was hesitating, the little jade dragon coiled around his wrist popped out, shook the scales on his body, then opened his mouth, a stream of spiritual energy flew out of the chicken cup in his hand, and was sucked in by the jade dragon .

The young man looked at the chicken cup in his hand and was a little dazed. Because of the high price of the chicken cup, there are many modern imitations. He didn't expect that he would encounter a real chicken cup from the Qing Dynasty at the booth. It was really unbelievable.

Seeing him staring at it for a long time, the middle-aged man said, "This is not the real Chenghua Doucai in your hand. It was imitated during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. The imitation is average. If you want to take it, 15 yuan is not negotiable."

Yun Zhou was not used to it for a while.

The other vendors in the antique market were eager to boast about their own things. There is nothing in the sky and nothing on the earth. This stall owner is so real, and he can directly say that it is an imitation of the Qing Dynasty, which really makes him look at it with admiration.

But the price was too high, and just as he was about to refuse, a young man in his 20s ran over beside him, panting heavily with sweat profusely, and hurriedly said: "Brother Chen, I have all the money, 15, Save the chicken bowl cup for me."

The stall owner ignored it: "You didn't say it just now, but now someone else is watching. According to the rules, you have to be at the back."

The young man became anxious immediately, and looked at Yun Zhou viciously: "I've been eyeing this chicken bowl cup this morning, so don't grab it from me."

Yun Zhou shook his head, with a calm expression: "I don't have that much money, so I won't rob you."

The young man didn't seem to expect the other party to be so straightforward, so he looked at the stall owner in a daze, "Brother Chen, please wrap it up for me, and come back to buy this chicken bowl cup after I sell it. If you want me to say, the entire city of S In the antique market, Brother Chen and your family have real things!"

"It's too absolute for you to say that. There are good things in other stalls, but you just need to rely on your eyesight."

The stall owner said something humbly, carefully filled the chicken bowl cup, and the young man hurriedly left with the things.

Seeing that Yun Zhou hadn't left yet, he pointed to a blue and white pot on the right and said, "This porcelain was collected from the demolition household. The price is not high. If you are interested, you can take a look."

"Okay." After what happened just now, Yun Zhou trusted the stall owner a little more, and stood aside to observe as he said.

This is a blue and white pot about 40 cm high. The body is slightly taller and round, with a mouth big enough to accommodate fists, a short neck and round shoulders, and lying feet.The size is shaped like a human head, so it is also called 'human head jar'.

This kind of blue and white pot was more common in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.

The shape of Kangxi blue and white porcelain is the most abundant period of blue and white porcelain in Qing Dynasty.

Take cans as an example, including general cans, lotus seed cans, porridge cans, round lid cans and so on.Among them, jars with round lids are the most common, and are generally about the size of a human head, so they are also called human head jars.

This kind of lid jar is very popular among people for the following reasons: first, it is very practical, and can be used to store salt, sugar, grains, etc. at will; The third is the homonym of jar and official, and the round jar also means round official and complete, implying auspiciousness. ③

Since the hands are slippery when cooking in the kitchen, 99% of this kind of human head jars do not have lids, and they are usually broken inadvertently, and very few have lids.

The one that Yunzhou sees now has a cover, which is very rare, and there is a high probability that it is the original one.

Because the lid is extremely exquisite, the glaze color is bright, and the decoration is fine, even more beautiful than the jar body.

As for the tank body, the blue and white hair color is stable, the tire is white and delicate, the shoulders and bottom are painted with Ruyi cloud head patterns, the body of the tank is painted with longevity characters and lotus patterns, and the glaze is a little dim. It is a very typical Kangxi Dynasty decoration. Six-character square regular script 'Daming Xuande Annual System' entrusted money.

From the bottom line, it is also in line with the characteristics of the Kangxi period.

Kangxi’s early porcelain rarely wrote inscriptions. The reason was that Kangxi believed that it would be unlucky if the inscriptions were written on the porcelain and it was broken.

However, the folk kilns in the Kangxi period had a large number of entrusted funds, such as "Daming Xuande Year System", "Daming Chenghua Year System", and "Daming Ming Jiajing Year System". a means of catharsis.

In short, this piece of porcelain is obviously not fired in an official kiln in terms of its exquisiteness, but the base and tools have obvious characteristics of folk kilns. According to Yunzhou's judgment, this blue and white covered jar should belong to the Kangxi folk kiln.

Seeing the little jade dragon emerging from his wrist, and sucking three spiritual energy out of the jar with his mouth open, Yun Zhou no longer hesitated, and asked the stall owner: "What is the price of this blue and white jar?"

"Twenty thousand." The middle-aged man's words carried an unquestionable taste: "You also know that jugs with original lids are not common."

He pointed to the flat top cover on it, "This cover alone can double the price."

Although ordinary Kangxi folk kiln kilns are not as valuable as official kilns, they can still reach 5 to 10.With the original cover, as the other party said, it can at least double.

The 1% probability is extremely rare in the market.

Yun Zhou originally wanted to bargain, but the middle-aged man took a look at him and seemed to understand what he was saying, and said bluntly: "The lowest price is [-], if you don't bargain, you can look at other things if you don't buy."

The young man stroked his left wrist with his white fingertips, thinking of Yulong's performance, he finally nodded his head: "Okay, then [-], I'll take it."

This price is the limit he can bear at present, like the chicken bowl cup just now, even if there are four or five times the profit, he will not buy it.

The middle-aged man received the transfer and quickly packed it in a cardboard box, with plastic foam stuffed at all four corners.

Yun Zhou's clear eyes watched the other party's movements without blinking, with a serious expression.

He once heard that someone did buy a genuine product in the antique market, but after happily taking it home, he found out that it was a fake!

How could this be?

Because at the time of final packaging, the stall owner took advantage of his carelessness to replace the genuine product with the fake one, which resulted in the bamboo basket being empty.

There are many routines in the world of antiques, and the heart of defense is indispensable.

Yun Zhou kept staring at the stall owner as he packed the porcelain, and finally took a look at the lid to confirm that it was correct, and then carried the box to the Treasure Pavilion.

Mr. Du laughed when he saw him, "What treasure did you find today?"

"It's a blue and white jar from the Kangxi period." Yunzhou opened the box and put the jar on the table, "Grandpa Du, please help me to have a look."

Now he is inexperienced, and he is not yet an official disciple of Mr. Du. Although he is already a disciple in the latter's heart, young people just need to practice more, so don't worry.

"Well, I'll take a look." Mr. Du took the jar and took a closer look. Shopkeeper Wu heard the movement and followed him.

The author has something to say:

A total of 19 Ming Chenghua Chicken Crock Cups (according to legend):

The National Palace Museum in Taipei (8), most of them are in Taipei due to the relocation of cultural relics to the south.

The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, the Davide Foundation in the UK, the Metropolitan Museum in New York in the US, and the Bauer Museum in Switzerland each have one, for a total of five.

The Forbidden City in Beijing (2 pieces), some experts say it was imitated by the Lang kiln in the late Ming Dynasty, which is doubtful.The other 4 are in the hands of private collectors.

【Note①②③Extracted from Baidu Encyclopedia and personal library】