This Tiger Head Army token was finally obtained by Liu Gongzi for 2,500 taels of silver, and the others felt that the 2,500 taels were a bit high, so they didn't bid again.

"Haha, three, since that's the case, I'm welcome, shopkeeper Qi, you really didn't disappoint me, this is two thousand five hundred taels of silver tickets, you put it away." Liu Gongzi directly took the two thousand five hundred taels of silver tickets from the servants next to him and handed them to the shopkeeper Qi.

The things that the shopkeeper took out were still high-value antiques, how could he not be happy, this Yuan Dynasty Tiger Head Army token not only allowed him to get an extremely valuable collection, but also may allow him to win this antique gathering.

"Thank you Liu Gongzi, the villain will definitely bring better antiques to all of you." Shopkeeper Qi took the silver ticket excitedly, and then respectfully made a compilation to the four sons of the family.

Liu Gongzi smiled and nodded, "Okay, Zhang Gongzi, you caught the two, and now it's your turn to choose the pawnshop to show it." ”

That Zhang Gongzi looked at the two pawnshops he selected, he didn't have too strict requirements for the selection of pawnshops, they were all some people who came by virtue of their relationships.

It's just that these two pawnshops, he has some impressions, the antiques that he took out last time are very good, he pointed casually with his finger, "Shopkeeper Zhou, you show it first, I hope you don't let me down." ”

Shopkeeper Zhou nodded vigorously, then solemnly took out a delicate box, then slowly opened it and put it in front of Zhang Gongzi, "Zhang Gongzi, the artifact that the villain is holding is a cup carved from rhinoceros horns. This vessel is finely carved. Exposure to the full. The outer wall is carved with a picture of a baby's play, and the pine tree is used as a handle, on the rhino horn, all the children are frolicking and chasing among the mountains and forests, the simple and lovely, the expression is lifelike. ”

"And on the mountain, there are ancient pines towering to the sky, maple and tung are covered, and pavilions are built high; Flat frame of the small bridge under the mountain. The stream is meandering, the water surface is sparkling, and a total of 26 children are carved to play in the mountains, lively and lovely, as if they are about to come out. ”

In the introduction of the shopkeeper Zhou, Zhang Gongzi's eyes lit up, and he slowly took the rhino horn cup out of the box and watched it carefully.

This rhino horn cup looks very large, and the solitude is very suitable, which makes the rhino horn cup original beautiful. Totally on display.

In addition, there is the ornamental carving on this rhino horn cup. It's very exquisite, it's really lifelike, and it's simply ingenious to carve such a beautiful picture on this rhino horn.

"Zhang Gongzi, please look here, at the mouth of the cup, there is also a sentence of Yangwen Xingshu verse, 'Shejin Liumaozhi, Tingyu Table Genius', this is a poem taken from the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ge's "Full Moon", reflecting people's good wishes for the heirs, this rhino horn cup, according to the carving above, should belong to the early Ming Dynasty, the overall weight is about one catty and two taels, although it is not very big in the rhino horn, but the view of the square inch, the most is to see the real merit." When Zhang Gongzi watched, Shopkeeper Zhou introduced other information about this rhino horn cup.

Hearing the introduction of the shopkeeper Zhou, Zhang Gongzi also saw the poems carved at the mouth of the cup, and couldn't help nodding, this rhino horn cup, the carving on it is very exquisite, and the baby play picture on it is lifelike, it is really a very exquisite thing.

Chen Yi's eyes are also on this rhino horn cup, rhino horn is commonly known as Asian rhinoceros horn, the small one weighs one or two catties, and the large one weighs more than ten catties, which is a precious Chinese herbal medicine and carving raw material, in the real world, ancient rhino horn products can be bought and sold after review, but modern rhino horn products, like ivory, are illegal to buy and sell.

In ancient times, including modern times, there were rhinoceros in China, but due to the frenzied hunting of hunters, the last rhinoceros in China was killed in 1922 AD.

As early as in the oracle bone inscription of Yin Shang, there is a record of rhino horn, to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the rhinoceros has been regarded as a national treasure, and the rhino horn is called the treasure of things, the rhino horn contains elements such as keratin and calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and calcium tyrosin, which is a good medicine for clearing heat, detoxifying, calming shock, stopping bleeding and nourishing, therefore, the ancients used rhino horn to make utensils to drink, drink water, to strengthen the body, dispel diseases, and achieve the effect of healing and nourishing the body.

And because the rhino horn cup is not easy to obtain, it has been controlled by the government of successive dynasties, and the ornaments made of rhino horn have become a symbol of rank and inferiority, and there are very few people who can carve rhino horns, and the carvers who can carve rhino horns are even rarer.

The infant play picture on this rhino horn cup, the carving can be said to be very exquisite, the infant play picture is a painting that depicts the children's play, also known as the play baby picture, is a kind of Chinese character painting, because the child is the main painting object, and the main purpose is to show the innocence of xiàn, so the picture is rich and the form is interesting.

On the whole rhino horn cup, more than 20 children frolic in the mountains, or boating on the lake, or climbing tree branches, or chasing and playing, or costuming lion dance, or playing and playing, or accompanied by juju, full of childlike fun, the figures have different postures, and their carving skills are extraordinary.

However, in terms of value, this rhino horn cup will be lower than the Tiger Head Army token just now, after all, just the Genghis Khan Tiger Head Army Token, this name is enough to have a high value, not to mention that the token is still made of gold, which has huge historical significance.

Zhang Gongzi played with great interest for a while, and handed the rhino horn cup to Liu Gongzi next to him, who also took it with a smile and watched it carefully.

Something like rhino horn is an unattainable thing for ordinary people, and they may never have the opportunity to see it in their lifetime, but for their families, it is not a particularly precious thing.

However, this rhino horn cup is very beautifully carved, surpassing the rhino horn cup he has ever seen, so it is also a good thing to make it a collector's item.

After everyone finished reading it, Liu Gongzi asked with a smile: "Shopkeeper Zhou, as far as I know, the rhino horn cup is very rare among the people, where did you come from this rhino horn cup." ”

Shopkeeper Zhou arched his hand, and then said: "Hui Gongzi, this rhino horn cup was obtained by a person from a declining big family who got it from my pawnshop for emergency money, and it has contract documents. ”

Liu Gongzi nodded, in recent years, the current Wanli Emperor has been in power, and it can be said that he has dismissed many officials who were very close to Zhang Juzheng before, so for a while, people were panicked, and some of those officials who were dismissed naturally wanted to sell their property and return to their hometowns.

Zhang Gongzi smiled at this time and asked, "What do you think of this rhino horn cup, is it an object from the early Ming Dynasty?" ”

"Judging from the traces of this rhino horn cup, it should be an old object." Wei Gongzi on the side nodded.

Liu Gongzi also bowed slightly, "The rhino horn cup is not something that ordinary people can carve, even in the capital, there are only one or two people in Liao Liao, this rhino horn cup looks unique in style, exquisite carving, lifelike, it doesn't look like these people can carve it, so I also think it's an old object." ”

Although these sons of the family have not really studied antique appraisal, they have a certain level of appreciation under their knowledge, and these pawnshop people have also carefully identified these things before, and they dare not take a fake to fool them.

Seeing that these two people thought it was an old object, Wu Gongzi also echoed it without any objections.

Afterwards, Zhang Gongzi asked Shopkeeper Zhou: "Shopkeeper Zhou, what is the price of this rhino horn cup." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, the price of this rhino horn cup is five hundred taels." Shopkeeper Zhou hurriedly said.

"Five hundred taels, I will pay six hundred taels, everyone who wants to get this rhino horn cup can bid." As soon as Shopkeeper Zhou's voice fell, Zhang Gongzi directly added one hundred taels, after all, this is the pawnshop he chose, so he has to get off to a good start.

The competition for this rhino horn cup was not as fierce as the previous tiger head army token, so after some bland bidding, this rhino horn cup in the early Ming Dynasty was sold for 1,100 taels of silver.

Zhang Gongzi is not too satisfied with this price, but the antiques of more than 1,000 taels can be regarded as being in the ranks of preciousness, and he constantly cursed in his heart that the value of Wei Gongzi and Wu Gongzi's next antiques should not exceed him.

Next it was Wei Gongzi's turn, he also chose a pawnshop at random, this pawnshop took out a painting of Zhou Chen, mentioning Zhou Chen, maybe many people don't know him, but he is the master of Tang Bohu and Qiu Ying of the four families of Wumen.

It's just that these two apprentices are blue out of blue, and better than blue, not to mention later generations, they have surpassed Zhou Chen in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, these sons of the family are no strangers to Zhou Chen, this pawnshop is a picture of Zhou Chen's Panasonic Coats, the literati often borrow the age of the pine and the young, symbolizing the flexibility of the noble personality for a long time, so this kind of Panasonic Coats theme, is often used by many painters.

Although Zhou Chen taught very famous apprentices like Tang Bohu and Qiu Ying, the value of his paintings was not too high.

Chen Yi is very familiar with the situation of the calligraphy and painting industry, and Zhou Chen's calligraphy and painting have not received much attention in modern times, but with the hot market, the value of his paintings is also steadily improving.

If it was Tang Bohu's painting, maybe these people would have been excited, but seeing that it was Zhou Chen's painting, their interest had obviously decreased.

In the end, this painting of Zhou Chen was bought by Wei Gongzi for five hundred taels, which made Wei Gongzi's heart full of worry, and now the ranking of the antique party is completely according to the before and after the castration, he caught the third, and now the first round is also temporarily ranked third, however, he feels that Wu Gongzi will definitely not surpass him.

But even if he can't surpass him, with his third place, he will lose at that time, and once he loses, the winner will have to choose a collection at will, which is unacceptable to him. (To be continued......)