Selina put the helmet back in her hand and said, "Hey! It's really, I guess I can't wear this helmet, but I didn't expect that in ancient times, helmets were actually divided into sizes! ”

Chu Chen shook his head with a smile and said: "The heads of the ancients will only be bigger than yours, not smaller than you, and don't forget, they still have buns on their heads, how can they wear such helmets!" Besides, although there were female generals during the Warring States Period, it was impossible for them to wear such a standard helmet, and it was definitely impossible for a male general to wear such a small helmet. ”

After listening to Chu Chen's explanation, Wu Ke and others, who knew history, all understood that in the social background and production conditions at that time, since such a head thief was useless, it would definitely not be produced.

Mina and Kelly didn't understand at first, but when they saw Wu Ke and the others' sudden appearance, they hurriedly asked, and after learning the details, Kelly's expression became a little anxious, and she was also anxious, so she immediately thought of a possibility, and hurriedly asked: "Chu, is it possible that this head ash was used for the children of the nobles at that time?" ”

Chu Chen shook his head and explained: "Let's not say that this is unrealistic, if it is really used by valuable children, then in terms of workmanship and ornamentation, it will definitely be much more refined and complicated than the current helmet, and from the perspective of the standard of this helmet, this is just used by ordinary generals." ”

Hearing this, Kelly frowned, Chu Chen's words did make sense, but she still didn't believe it, the helmet that had always been regarded as a treasure by her father would be fake, but she also knew that no matter how much she didn't believe it, it was impossible to say that what didn't originally exist in zài would still be a real thing.

So she went on to ask, "Then the material is real." What's going on? ”

Chu Chen said: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be modified from a small copper tripod." This copper tripod must be rotten somewhere, and there is a wound. They removed the disabled place and turned it into a helmet with great craftsmanship. What is bad becomes good, and as soon as it is changed, its value will at least double! ”

"In that case, why didn't I see any patched marks on it?" Kelly asked.

Chu Chen replied: "As for why I can't see the traces after repair, it's because of these green rust on the helmet. ”

Speaking of which, he said to Kelly, "Do you think it's natural for the patina year to go straight up here?" Doesn't look like a fake? ”

Seeing Kelly nodding, Chu Chen explained: "Now that science and technology are becoming more and more developed, the level of bronze fraud is getting higher and higher. Coco, do you remember that people in the circle used to say that bronzes can't be stained with green rust, right? ”

Wu Keyan said that this was indeed the case.

Chu Chen continued: "Red spots and green rust, copper mirrors, bronze utensils, there is a lot of green rust on them, this was the easiest way to identify it in the past. It is to take a pin and prick it up, and if it can be pierced, it is fake, and there is glue in this green rust. It's true if you can't hold it, but now it doesn't work. ”

"You know what? Now they are faked and used on the bronzes, and they are made of that kind of red spots and green rust. To make that kind of peacock blue green rust, you don't need glue at all. Nowadays, the most advanced method of counterfeiting is called 'grafting rust'. ”

"What is 'graft rust'? Can this rust also be transplanted? Josie asked curiously.

Chu Chen smiled: "Can't figure it out, right?" In fact. It's easy to say, the counterfeiter is to cut the fragments on the newly unearthed and rotten bronzes into the required size with high-tech methods, and cut them off regardless of the texture, one by one on the new copper tire, all the inside and outside are pasted, and the paste is tight. ”

"After pasting, I put all the rusty old copper coins that had been prepared one by one on the bronzes, and then poured water on them to let them rust naturally. After a while, you take the copper coin off, and then you look at it again, and it's all mottled patina, and this patina grows naturally. And it's transplanted. That's why it's called 'graft rust'. ”

"This is a new process that has only been developed in recent years, and many people, including some experts, have planted it on it. If it weren't for the fact that this helmet was so small, I wouldn't have been able to tell it was fake for a while. ”

After listening to Chu Chen's explanation, Kelly still asked a little reluctantly: "Chu, is there only a problem with the size of this helmet?" ”

Chu Chen shook his head: "I just explained, some of the places on it are repaired with unearthed bronze fragments, although the material is similar, but the texture is not the same, you can see this place with a magnifying glass, you should be able to see it......"

Then, Kelly hurriedly took the magnifying glass from Chu Chen's hand, took a closer look, and found that it was indeed the same as Chu Chen said, although there was naturally growing patina on it, but the lines were not the same as the surroundings, which immediately made her feel extremely depressed.

Seeing her best friend so sad, Mina didn't know how to persuade her, let Kelly want to open a little, the money represented by this helmet is very important to her family, but don't persuade her, seeing Kelly so sad, her heart is also very uncomfortable.

Kelly didn't dwell on it for long, and when she saw Mina's worried gaze, she smiled at Mina, signaling that she was okay, and then asked, "Chu, does that mean that this helmet is worthless?" ”

Chu Chen replied: "It's true, if it can still be kept as it is, even if it is dilapidated, it can still be worth some money, but such a change is worth it to profiteers, but for us buyers, there is indeed not much economic value." ”

With that, he made another apologetic gesture.

"Hey!" Kelly let out a long sigh, and then apologized to Chu Chen: "Chu, I doubted your ability just now, I'm really sorry!" ”

Chu Chen smiled and waved his hand and said, "It's okay, after all, if this helmet is real, it is worth at least 30,000 pounds, and it should be cautious." ”

Hearing Chu Chen say this, Kelly opened her mouth, but in the end she swallowed the words that came to her mouth, and then asked Chu Chen to help identify the few things that were left.

There were still three boxes in the box, so Chu Chen took a small box casually, opened it and saw that there was a snuff box inside.

This cigarette bottle is a flat round crystal pot made of natural materials. The front of the bottle is painted with a costume portrait of Huang Zhong played by Peking Opera master Tan Xinpei, which is vigorous and powerful, with infinite artistic conception and exquisite brushwork. The painting of Huang Zhong is majestic, lifelike, and very similar to a photograph. A poem is inscribed on the back, and the white seal of "Shaoxuan" is painted later. The calligraphy is European and very neat and rigorous.

Ma Shaoxuan was one of the four great painters of the Beijing School in the late Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. He is famous all over the country for his "poetry and painting" interior painting skills, and has made a milestone contribution to the art of interior painting pots in China. The Western art world even calls it the "Picasso" in the art of inner painting pots.

Among Ma Shaoxuan's works, Huang Zhong's portrait inner painting pot is his representative series, which is highly sought after in the international collecting community. A snuffbox like this, if genuine, should be a very rare treasure for snuff bottle collectors.

Chu Chen carefully read the snuff bottle in his hand to confirm that it was genuine, and then said with a smile: "Kelly, this snuff bottle is indeed Ma Shaoxuan's authentic handiwork, and it is also a more popular breed among collectors in our country." ”

Kelly listened to what Chu Chen said, her nervous mood suddenly relaxed, and she hurriedly asked, "Chu, how much can this snuffbox be worth?" ”

Chu Chen pondered for a moment, and then said: "The market value of this snuff bottle should be around 10,000 pounds now. ”

"Only 10,000 pounds?" Kelly said in a broken voice, the price was too far from what she had expected.

Chu Chen nodded: "It's really only 10,000 pounds, I can use my reputation to vouch for this, if you think it's wrong, you can also go to the auction house to consult." ”

"No, no, no! Chu, you misunderstood me, it's just that the price you said is not even half of my father's purchase price, so I feel a little surprised. ”

At first, Kelly did suspect that Chu Chen deliberately lowered the price, but when she heard Chu Chen say this, and Chu Chen's clothes added up to more than 10,000 pounds, she felt that Chu Chen had no need to lie in this regard.

Chu Chen smiled slightly, said that it didn't matter, and then said: "Then I can only say that your father is indeed expensive to buy, and this kind of snuff bottle, if you buy it in our country, it may not cost 10,000 pounds." Also, take the liberty of asking, did your father's stuff all buy in one place? ”

"yes!" Kelly nodded, and then immediately understood what Chu Chen meant, and said with some surprise: "Chu, do you mean that the other party deliberately deceived my father?" ”

"From my experience, there is a real possibility of this."

In fact, Chu Chen was already a little strange just now, why did the seller deliberately tell Kelly's father not to remove the patina from the helmet. There is no problem with this sentence in itself, but as a seller deliberately reminds that in the antique market, where fakes account for most of the total, you have to be careful.

If this helmet is cleaned, it can immediately show its original shape, which is also the seller's biggest concern, and he must of course warn him in advance, so as not to show his feet when he gets it. Judging from the current situation, Kelly's father should know some about antiques, but he is not proficient in it, and the seller is not afraid that Kelly's father will find out.

Mina said angrily, "It's a profiteer again, Kelly, you should tell your father about it, and then you can go to the man to settle the score!" ”

Kelly smiled bitterly: "My father had the idea of selling antiques to that person again, but when I got to the other party's antique shop, I found that it was closed." And the man's phone is unreachable now, and even if we wanted to, we couldn't ...... him" (to be continued......