It doesn't matter whether it has anything to do with Tiebao, the important thing is that as soon as the thing is complete, its collection value immediately jumped sharply, and Li Yi began to seriously consider whether there was a need for collection. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In addition to the inkstone, the poem manuscript, the lake pen, there are also pen washes, ink blocks, bamboo carved pen holders, incense sticks and other things on the desk, Li Yi picked them up one by one and checked them one by one, and found that these had nothing to do with Tiebao, so he picked up the inkstone again.

There are three inscriptions on this inkstone, at first he looked at the inscription engraved on the left side of the inkstone, and on the right side, it was inscribed by the famous seal carver Weng Danian of the Qing Dynasty, "the quality is warm and greasy, delicate and moist, only I use it, it can be perennial." The time of payment is "the twentieth day of the winter month of Renchen".

The sixth year of Jiaqing engraved by Tiebao is 1801, and the year of Renchen engraved by Weng Danian should be 1832, when Tiebao has been dead for 8 years, but it can be basically determined that this inkstone should be passed down by the descendants of Tiebao in Weng Danian.

The third inscription is engraved on the canopy of the original sour branch wood, this person Li Yi is more familiar with, that is, Wu Changshuo, a master of the Shanghai School who has basically been able to identify as a generation of Ding Yi, and he left behind a five-character quatrain.

This inscription is not dated, but Wu Changshuo's date of birth was a few years later than the date of Weng Danian's death, although it is not known where the inkstone was during this period, but in general, the inheritance of this inkstone should be very clear.

And the most important thing is that the three masters of the inkstone before and after are not only celebrities, but also left inscriptions, among which Weng Danian and Wu Changshuo are a generation of gold and stone masters, and their skills in seal carving are extraordinary, and their inscriptions add a lot of color to this inkstone.

The price of the inkstone is 200,000 euros, although the price is high, but if you take into account the factor of the complete set, it can barely be said, but the rather ordinary lake pen, just because of the complete set of 20,000 euros, this price is indeed a bit too outrageous.

The three things add up to 320,000 euros, and even if there is a discount, it is estimated that it is difficult to say the price he thinks is appropriate, so after hesitating for a while, Li Yi decided to put these pieces aside first, and wait until all the things are read before slowly weighing.

On the left-hand side of the desk, there is an imitation Qing-style Bogu shelf, on which are about seventeen or eighteen antiques of all kinds, but the first thing that catches Li Yi's attention is a tooth carving set ball placed on a mahogany base.

Ivory carving, also known as ivory carving, is an ancient traditional art. As the strongest part of the elephant's body, the ivory has a delicate texture, moderate hardness, soft luster, and fine tooth lines, which are comparable to the finest gemstones, so it has the reputation of an organic gemstone. Ivory carved artworks have always been cherished by collectors and are one of the unique varieties of antiques.

The sphere of the set of balls is made of several layers of hollow balls from the outside to the inside, and the appearance appears to be only a sphere, but there are layers within the layer, and each ball can rotate freely and has the same center of circle. Therefore, the set of balls is also called "concentric balls", "ghost work balls", take the meaning of ghost axes, the production is quite complicated, and the process requirements are extremely high.

The outer layer of the ball that Li Yi saw was about 17cm in diameter, from large to small, from the outer and inner layers to each other, a total of five layers of hollow spheres were carved, and each layer was evenly thick. In addition to the outermost sphere surface carved with relief carving of a hundred flowers figures, the inner set of balls are carved densely arranged pattern decoration, so that no matter how the whole instrument is placed, the layers can be rotated, and the inside can be seen through.

The ball pillar above the outermost sphere is carved with an old man's pestle and cane, holding a net bottle, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, wearing a robe, bare chest and abdomen, and look pleasant. The top of the figure's head is connected with a long interlocking chain, and the end is connected by a koi carp. The round carved fruit at the bottom of the ball, tied with colorful knots, forms a strong contrast with the white ivory, complements each other, and is quite wonderful.

"This ivory carving is a good thing......"

Li Yi was looking, and suddenly there was a voice of a person speaking beside him, and it was very standard Mandarin, he turned his head to take a look, and found that it was an old man with white hair and a bright head, wearing casual clothes, and couldn't help laughing:

"The old gentleman also has research on this?"

"Hehe, I can't call it research, but I yearn for these beautiful things, little brother, are you here to travel?"

Li Yi nodded and said:

"Sort of, sir, what about you?"

The old man smiled and shook his head,

"I've been here to help my daughter take care of the children, and I've been here for more than ten years, and now the children are older, but I'm used to living here, so I'm here for more than half a year. Little brother, I see what you just meant, I like this ivory set ball very much? ”

Li Yi nodded, turned his head and glanced at the price tag, but he didn't expect the price to be 150,000 euros, so he couldn't help frowning, Pat, this guy, the asking price is a bit dark!

"Yes, I saw this set of balls half a year ago, but the price is a bit too high, so I have come many times over and over again, and I have never been able to make up my mind."

The old man smiled and shook his head,

"I didn't expect that there were more benefits to come, once, when I dialed the hollow ball in the inner layer, I was very lucky to find that there was a defect, I couldn't help but be very happy, fortunately, the price is relatively high and not discounted, otherwise it will really be a big ......"

Flaw? Li Yi handed the set of balls to the old man, frowned and watched him keep moving the inner hollow ball with a bamboo stick, and suddenly his eyes moved, he saw that there seemed to be a problem here.

The problem is that the fifth, that is, the innermost layer of a hollow ball, has several small holes that should have been hollowed out but are not hollowed, thus leaving a small square blank.

"Actually, I haven't figured out whether this was deliberately left by the maker or forgotten, but judging from the craftsmanship level of this set of balls, it seems that he shouldn't have made such a big mistake."

Li Yi nodded, he himself is a student of carving, of course he knows the difficulty of carving this set of balls, and from the level of craftsmanship of this set of balls, the maker is definitely a top ivory carving master, he has no reason to make such a rudimentary mistake, but if it is deliberate, what is he doing it for?

After carefully studying the relief carvings on the surface of the outer sphere, Li Yi judged that this should be the work of the late Ming or early Qing Dynasty, which reminded him of a famous ivory carving master. If this set of balls was his work, then he seemed to be able to think of what it was used for.

The master he remembered was named Chen Zuzhang, a master of ivory carving during the Qianlong period. Moreover, he is not only famous for his ivory carving, but also his miniature carving skills are breathtaking. If this set of balls is really his work, it is very likely that this deliberately left blank space is the place he used to make miniature carvings, but I don't know what he wants to carve to leave such a large blank space.

Opening the spirit card, Li Yi found that this set of balls was indeed Chen Zuzhang's work, but on that blank space, no matter with the naked eye or with a 10-fold magnifying glass, he didn't see even a trace of micro-carving, what is going on? (To be continued.) )