Seeing that Gao Qianqian went out and closed the door, Zhang Tianyuan asked, "Old Yu shopkeeper, did you just go out to investigate the matter of the bronze?"

Because he said before that he was coming today, but the shopkeeper was not there, he estimated that the shopkeeper should have gotten some news, and then went out to investigate.

"The boss is worthy of being the boss, and sure enough, I guessed it, wait, I'll drink saliva first......"

Lao Yu gave Zhang Tianyuan a thumbs up, then picked up the tea jar on the table and poured a few sips of water, then wiped his mouth and continued: " I've inquired, this person is peddling bronzes, it's not the first time, I even think that he asked Xiao Gao girl to carve seals for him, and then under the pretext that he didn't have money, he wanted to exchange bronzes, which was also planned, and we also encountered similar things in several other stores in Panjiayuan, although it wasn't the same person, but the bronzes in his mouth should be similar, as if they were objects from Shengkeng......"

This old shopkeeper has been in Panjiayuan for decades, and he must know many more people than Zhang Tianyuan, there are three religions and nine streams, and it is still very easy to inquire about this matter, because Zhang Tianyuan did not come back, he did not dare to act lightly, for fear of startling the snake, and now that Zhang Tianyuan is back, this matter will naturally start to investigate.

The so-called "pit" refers to the qualitative change of the surface of the bronze ware due to various chemical reactions, which naturally and layer by layer produces rust, forming a rust color of green, red, blue, or purple on the surface of the vessel. This rust color is solid and has a natural sense of changeability.

Correspondingly, there is also a kind of ripe pit, and "ripe pit" refers to some collectors in order to make the bronze more beautiful and to prevent the corroded artifacts from regenerating rust and deterioration. Wash the "raw pit" bronze ware and remove the patina with a reasonable chemical method. And coated with wax, its surface is bright and dazzling. The bottom layer retains its rich color. And most of the heirlooms we see in the museum have been treated in this way, which is both beautiful and worry-free.

In fact, to put it bluntly, these are just two processes of bronzes, and because of this, the so-called shengpit in this antique circle actually means that this bronze has just been unearthed not long ago and has not been processed.

"Old than the shopkeeper, it is not easy to judge the truth or falsehood. How did these friends of yours judge it?" asked Zhang Tianyuan.

Because the pit is full of patina, it is difficult to judge its artistic achievements or artistic style, because many things are covered by patina. It's not easy to judge whether it's true or false, but it's not the same when it's cooked, after processing, everything is exposed, and it's relatively easy to judge.

Let's say a beautiful woman who makes herself dirty. I can't even see my face clearly, and my body is dressed in tatters, so I can't tell my figure. It's hard to tell if she's beautiful or not, but if it's washed. If you pack up and change your clothes, it's a completely different story. You can tell at a glance whether she is beautiful or not.

Of course, if you have plastic surgery, that's a different story.

"It should be eight or nine. These people are not only circulating in Panjiayuan, but they are also openly peddled online. I was previously on a website called The Prosperous Collection. The website is mainly composed of various collection forums, including bronze and metalware, ceramics, jade, calligraphy and painting, ancient coins and other sections. The interface of the website is simple, simple and functional, but there are more than 10,000 registered members and about 1,000 to 1,500 posts per day. Among the various forums on the site, the most popular is the Bronze Forum. In the forum, netizens posted photos of various bronzes in their collections on the Internet, asking everyone to enjoy and judge. However, in the midst of these appreciations and judgments, from time to time someone asks about the price. ”

"Oh, and that kind of thing, it's bold. Zhang Tianyuan knows that today's network monitoring is relatively strict, and he dares to openly peddle bronzes on the Internet, which is indeed fat enough, but it is not nothing, after all, in these years, anything strange can happen, and the reality is even more exciting and weird than movies and television.

"I saw a netizen post a series of photos of bronze tripods in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, with front, side and interior. The netizen also left a contact number and noted that he would answer it at night. After the photo was posted, many netizens followed. Some people say that from the point of view of the decoration and shape characteristics of the tripod, it is more accurate to say that it is the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, and some netizens say that it is the tripod of the Western Zhou Dynasty during the period of King Cheng and King Kang. More netizens left messages saying that it is a good thing, please text message to inform the price and size. However, this netizen did not explain the origin of this bronze tripod in a series of posts. This thing is exactly the same as the photos taken by those who sold bronzes in Panjiayuan a few days ago, and it is estimated that it is the same group of people. The old shopkeeper continued.

"It could also be a scam. Zhang Tianyuan is more cautious and takes all possibilities into account, he doesn't want to be fooled.

"I don't think it's very likely to be a scam, a netizen named Bai Guang posted a picture of 2 Ge in the forum. In the photo of one of the Ge, the white light indicates that it is 'Thick Heavy Life Pit Quanpin', 21 centimeters long and 10 centimeters high. As you know, in the antique shop, the so-called 'shengkeng' bronzes are bronzes that have not been unearthed for a long time, and the surface has maintained the rust caused by the long burial in the ground. 'Thick and heavy pit full product' means that this Ge has just been unearthed and is in good condition. Many netizens posted that Ge's quality was good and asked about the price. Bai Guang, the netizen who posted the photo of Ge, explained in the post that these two Ge have been sold!" Lao Yu said again.

"Oh, when you say that, it adds a bit to the real possibility. Zhang Tianyuan frowned.

Not only that, but a netizen Jin Ge Tiema posted a post about a bronze belt hook. According to the post, this hook is a 'raw pit' product, 158 mm long, with a double animal face, the hook head beast face is embedded with 'black material beads', the hook body is embedded with three 'glass beads', and the whole body is gilded. Soon after the 'water' came out, no cleaning was done in order not to destroy the gilding. Due to customs, the hook head has been artificially broken during the burial. Old Yu's words made Zhang Tianyuan taken aback again, although he also thought that there might still be some people secretly buying and selling bronzes, but he really didn't expect it to be so bold.

By the way, the so-called "out of the water" here refers to the fact that it has just been dug out of the tomb, which is also the jargon of the antique shop.

The post also said that the hook has been able to communicate, and interested parties can contact by text message. I read the following part of the post and found that many people asked about the price of this hook, Jin Ge Iron Horse said, the price has been reported through the guò text message, the hook in the second photo, is the collection of the Xishan Museum, in order to illustrate that 'the hook head has been artificially broken with the burial due to customs' was a common phenomenon at that time. In addition, I also noticed that the administrator of the website specially wrote in red font at the top of the page: "Please abide by the laws of the country, and the words 'sale' and 'exchange' are strictly prohibited from appearing in the excavated products of the raw pit." However, there are still many netizens who said in the post that their 'Shengkeng' bronzes can be 'communicated'. ”

"It's so arrogant, aren't you afraid of being investigated?" Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile.

"Those who dare to sell must have a way, and they should not be afraid of being investigated. The old shopkeeper sighed and said.

"That's just as well. What do you think, do you want to eat this batch of bronzes?" Zhang Tianyuan looked at Lao Yu's shopkeeper and asked.

This old-timer must have his own opinions, although he once lost money because of his eyes, but in this world, except for Zhang Tianyuan, no one really dares to say that he has never made eyes, but Cheng Dù is different.

is old in the experience of the shopkeeper, that is what Zhang Tianyuan definitely needs to learn.

"I think that most of this kind of things are still fakes, and lovers who like to collect bronzes should collect heirloom bronzes with clear provenance and origin, and don't always pay attention to the so-called 'shengkeng'. Bronze is a major collection category with porcelain, calligraphy and painting, China has a history of collecting and studying bronzes in the Song Dynasty, but the collectors of bronzes in the past dynasties are all highly educated and well-funded. At present, the price of a Jue cup is about 120,000 yuan, and the price of a Ding in the Shang and Zhou dynasties is 300,000 to 500,000 yuan. If it is a ritual vessel used for sacrifice, the price will be millions or even tens of millions of yuan. On the market, one or two thousand yuan to buy a bronze tripod, a cup or something, the probability of being genuine is almost non-existent. Old Yu thought for a while.

"What you say is right, I used to discuss the possibility of collecting bronzes with Professor Li Mingguang, and he told me that in addition to the real 'shengkeng' goods, there are many people who sell fake bronzes, saying that they have just been unearthed from a certain place, dug up from the grave, and they want to do their best to make up stories. Many collectors like 'raw pit' goods because they feel that the rust on them has a sense of vicissitudes and a sense of history, and they think that the bronzes of 'familiar pits' are easier to counterfeit and don't look real. But for the current counterfeiters, rust is a very simple process, and the difficulty of making a 'raw pit' fake is basically the same as the difficulty of making a 'ripe pit' fake. In fact, the bronzes of the 'cooked pit' also have another beauty, and many of the bronzes displayed in the museum have been rusted and cleaned, and they don't necessarily have to pursue the rust of the 'raw pit'. "Zhang Tianyuan still knows a lot about bronzes, and his professional course is archaeology.

Speaking of this, there used to be a joke that some people who didn't know how to pretend to understand, when they walked into the Bronze Hall of Shangpu Museum, they would look at it and say: It's probably all imitations. Lao Yu said with a smile.

"It's not surprising at all, because they don't understand how the 'raw pit' can be so beautiful after it becomes a 'cooked pit'. Therefore, from the Imperial Capital to the Shangpu Museum, from Izumiya in Japan to the Metropolitan in the United States, the heirloom bronzes on display have undergone careful surface treatment to truly reflect the alluring beauty of bronze. If my friend is one day keen on collecting bronzes, I will tell him not to judge the merits of the bronzes by 'raw pits' or 'cooked pits', but to restore the original appearance of the bronzes to the greatest extent possible and truly embody the charm of bronze art. Zhang Tianyuan nodded and said. (To be continued......)