The official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties were all depicted by court painters, and the lines were smooth and precise. After comprehending the essence of court painting, Liu Dabin applied the typical picture layout, the proportions of characters and landscapes, and "created" by himself.

And some low-imitation painters have no bottom in their hearts, so they will use the method of base tracing to paint the gourd in the same way, and naturally paint tigers like cats, which are easy to goof.

In addition, it is natural to perfectly remove the "thief light". Liu Dabin said that if you use a firewood kiln, you should soak the chopping firewood in salt water before installing the kiln, and the sodium will be vaporized and smoked on the glaze at a high temperature, and the "meat texture" will be fired back, and there will be no "thief light"; if you use an electric kiln or a gas kiln, you need to process it later, or use electricity in the early stage, and use charcoal in the later stage; or add some pine branches soaked in salt water to the furnace at the appropriate time, and the results will be the same, like the real products of the official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

There is another process that is necessary, and that is to make "pulp". Also known as "black lacquer ancient", it is the surface skin shell gradually formed by the surface of the utensils in the long years because of dust, sweat, the hands of the players, or the soil buried in the water, the long-lasting friction, and even the passage of rays in the air.

The pulp is nothing more than a long-term friction, so Liu Dabin hired some old people and asked them to rub with more delicate animal skins to accelerate the formation of pulp. For this processing method, Zhang Tianyuan can also search for the same answer on the Internet: in addition to animal skins, cotton cloth can also create a pulping effect.

If it is troublesome to do it manually, there are still people who use the method of soaking in medicinal solutions, and now the high imitators of Xijiang Ceramics Town have already abandoned the soaking method of chemical solutions such as potassium permanganate and hydrofluoric acid in the early years. Because it is easy to identify and can damage the glaze. The solution developed by using natural substances to innovate and give the porcelain a "slurry" effect.

Hide from the experts. That's to hide the technology test. The porcelain carcass is made of old mud, and the chemical composition is the same as that of ancient porcelain, and the glazed age is soaked in a potion developed by a chemical master, and the longer the soaking time, the longer the glaze "year".

Speaking of potions, Liu Dabin also told a real joke: once to make a high imitation of the Qianlong period, due to the long soaking time of the potion, it was taken to the imperial capital for scientific and technological testing, and it was measured to be the "genuine" of the Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago, and he had to rework.

The last trick is "fake heart leather". If you plan to auction a high-priced imitation, you might as well find a genuine brocade box of similar age. People rely on clothes and Buddha rely on gold, and take them out to "shoot", which will be even more majestic.

To be honest, after listening to Liu Dabin's words, Zhang Tianyuan was almost dumbfounded, even the porcelain that could be concealed from the scientific and technological test was replaced by ordinary experts, who could distinguish it, isn't it difficult for a strong man?

"Actually, I feel comfortable doing this. Liu Dabin suddenly smiled and said.

"Peace of mind?" Zhang Tianyuan was stunned. Because no matter what, Liu Dabin's approach is all fake, and if others don't trouble you, you still say that you are at ease?

"We are opening the door to make high imitations and sell high imitations. It's all hard-earned money, and it's not us who deceive people, but auction houses and antique shops. Why are we weak-hearted?" Liu Dabin shrugged his shoulders and said, "Brother, you should have been to Xijiang Ceramics Town, right? ”

Regarding Liu Dabin's statement, Zhang Tianyuan believes it.

In fact, some well-known masters of high imitation. I also like to copy well-known works, because the more well-known works. The more it can highlight its exquisite skills and integrity.

Zhang Tianyuan knew a master surnamed Huang, and even went to this person's home.

In the exhibition hall of this master surnamed Huang, there are two high-quality imitations of porcelain that can be called famous all over the world, one is the "Yuan blue and white 'Guiguzi Descending Mountain' picture jar", and the other is the "Wanli five-color deer pattern jar". The former was sold for more than 15 million pounds (240 million yuan) in the "Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art" auction house at Christie's in the United Kingdom in 2005, the highest price for Chinese porcelain at that time. The latter is a rare collection of the Imperial Palace Museum.

"'Guiguzi down the mountain' auctioned more than 200 million yuan, before the auction in Shangpu, the imperial capital, Hong Kong preview, I went to the scene to see, but also entrusted acquaintances, touched the genuine, all the information is written down, the auction is successful, my ten imitations will be directly listed, the dignified sale is a high imitation handicrafts, the price is 28,000 yuan a, all sold out at once, the last one sold to 120,000 yuan, now the circulating market price has been 200,000 yuan. The master surnamed Huang told Zhang Tianyuan.

In the master's exhibition hall, even if it is not the "Guiguzi Descending Mountain" made by him, the current price is 23,900 yuan.

Another master, surnamed Li, copied a vase from the Qianlong official kiln of the Qing Dynasty that was auctioned in the UK on November 11, 2010, when the original sold for 51.6 million pounds (about 550 million yuan), once again setting a world record for the auction price of Chinese porcelain.

"At the time of the auction, we went to see the details, and many people couldn't see the details, and we paid attention to all the photos and size records. Now the imitation has been publicly 'auctioned' in the UK, and the price is 50,000 pounds. The master surnamed Li was very frank when he said this, just like Liu Dabin's expression at this time.

But even if a high-quality imitation can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan, in the eyes of imitators, they still earn "hard money". The master, surnamed Li, has been making high imitations for twenty-four years, and feels that the cost of high imitations is getting higher and higher.

He told Zhang Tianyuan: "The production process and raw material cost of truly and completely restoring ancient porcelain are too high. For example, Yuan blue and white high imitation, in the past, it was not necessary to go to the mountains to pick up blue and white materials, but now it costs 10,000 yuan to buy a catty. A few years ago, a ton of kaolin cost 600 yuan, but now it costs 8,000 yuan, and a ton can only be used for 300 catties. Over the years, I have made a lot of money doing high imitations, but I have also spent a lot of money on research. For example, Song Yingqing, I will go to the Shangpu Institute of Ceramics to do molecular analysis, come back to study the formula, go back and test again, until I pass the test...... The carcass has not yet been made, and a lot of money has already been spent. Next, the flowers are drawn and fired...... It's a complex process. ”

In addition to the difficulty of production, an "unspoken rule" of the high-imitation industry makes it impossible for high-imitation people to mass produce.

This Zhang Tianyuan didn't know before, and the master surnamed Huang and the luggage master didn't tell him, but Liu Dabin knew it very well, he told Zhang Tianyuan: "No matter how similar the high melamine is, it is also a son who can't raise a lot." Imitation of the second, the previous customers are anxious with you: 'I spent 200,000 yuan to buy your high imitation, why do you still sell it to others? Mine is worthless!' Now in my business, the most profitable is the production of daily porcelain, with a small simple profit but a large batch; But that's it, the ghost-faced man still won't let me go, judging from this situation, the ghost-faced man is definitely not a legitimate high-imitation business, they sell the fake as the real thing. ”

Liu Dabin also calculated the income of a high-imitation collection, a high-imitation Ming and Qing Dynasty official kiln, the current market price in Xijiang Ceramics Town is 20,000 to 80,000 yuan, generally auctioned at home and abroad auction companies, the transaction price is ten times to a hundred times the ex-factory price!

In fact, the real profiteer in this process is not the master of high imitation, but the last owner of the high imitation product.

"Then why do you insist on practicing this technique?" Zhang Tianyuan was still a little incomprehensible.

"Because I like it. If a person can perfectly imitate Tang Bohu's paintings, perfectly imitate Picasso's paintings, and the similarity reaches 100 percent, then in fact, his level is very close to these masters, and it can even be said that he is even more than that, because the imitation itself requires at least the level to reach the level of these masters, otherwise there will only be no form and no god. Speaking of this, Liu Dabin was very excited.

"By the way, do you know who I admire the most besides Shi Dabin?" Liu Dabin asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"A man named Zhou Danquan! a master of melamine in the Ming Dynasty!" replied Liu Dabin.

Speaking of Zhou Danquan, we have to talk about Sioux City in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the prosperity and luxury of Sioux City led the country, and even spread overseas across the ocean. In the Wanli period, the style of collecting and gardening of Sioux people pushed the Soviet-style life of Sioux people to a glorious extreme.

Someone once asked Zhang Tianyuan what kind of life was in Sioux City during the Wanli period? Zhang Tianyuan thought about it and said that at that time, the literati class in Sioux City fashioned to do three things: listen to Kunqu Opera, watch "Golden ~ Bottle Plum", and give Shi Dabin pot.

He studied archaeology anyway, and he has read a lot of history, so he can still answer such a question.

Due to the intervention of the literati of Sioux City, the craftsmanship of Sioux City at this time was able to advance by leaps and bounds, and the craft not only met the needs of practicality, but also paid more attention to the delicacy of ornamentation. It was during this period that Dabin subtly integrated the cultural atmosphere into the process of making pots in the process of watching the literati in Sucheng drinking tea and listening to music.

In a sense, as a native of Yi~Xing, Shi Dabin's artistic career was in Sioux City, and it was Sioux City that made him from a pot maker to an outstanding pot maker.

It was in this environment that many skilled craftsmen emerged in Sioux City at this time, and of course, these skilled craftsmen at that time were only obscure cultivators, who may appear in the pen of some literati, leaving some sporadic accounts, and as for the title of master, they are all praised by later generations.

Unlike today, when masters are flying all over the sky, the embroidery girl in front of the window is a master, the master who sets up a stall in the park to write, and even the child servant who drinks tea can be named a master.

Zhou Danquan was a typical skilled craftsman in Wumen during this period. He was a master of porcelain making imitation kiln porcelain, and the imitation kiln porcelain he fired was called Zhou kiln.

According to Lanpu's "Xijiang Ceramic Town Pottery Record" records: Zhou kiln, Longqing, Wanli Zhongren, famous Danquan, Ben Wu family, came to Changnan to make ware, for the time of the famous hand. Particularly fine antiques. Each famous product is out, and the four parties compete for repurchase. (To be continued......)