A large part of the transaction price of this auction is due to commercial speculation. There is a way to be an antique in prosperous times, and gold in troubled times. In the case that the people of later generations can eat their stomachs, the collection naturally arises. The less the quantity of things in the world, the more difficult it is to preserve, the higher the price. Porcelain is a clear example of this. Although there are commercial factors that magnify the price, it can be recognized by almost all porcelain lovers, and it can also prove the value of Yuan blue and white and Qing Dynasty pastel porcelain.

Blue and white porcelain was produced in the Tang Dynasty, but it flourished in the Yuan Dynasty. It's not that the Mongols who came to dominate the Central Plains in the Yuan Dynasty had any secret methods for firing porcelain, but because after the Mongol nobles ruled the Central Plains, the Han Chinese were no longer able to grasp the authority of the upper echelons. Therefore, the culture of the Yuan Dynasty was mostly secluded and secular .

Among the Yuan songs, most of the loose songs are based on the theme of returning to the countryside and understanding life. Even if you pay attention to current affairs, you are just complaining about the Mongolian nobles of the Yuan Dynasty. Nothing substantial. The miscellaneous drama of the Yuan Dynasty has reached another peak, and a large number of literati who have been left behind since the Song Dynasty have had to integrate into secular life when their careers are hopeless, and since then, the drama of the Yuan Dynasty has risen. The level of storytelling and the creation of characters in the drama have greatly improved compared to the past. Just like the online novels that have made many people chase more and more in later generations, the Mongolians who have just entered the Central Plains are addicted.

The Mongol nobles who entered the Central Plains actually liked this transformation of the Han people very much, not to mention that such a change was conducive to their rule, but the splendid civilization created by these Han people made them feel like they were in the clouds. Such a comfortable life is comparable to the bitter cold grassland.

The Mongols may have been good at mounted archery, but not at the making of objects. Therefore, before the Mongols entered the Central Plains, life on the steppe was very hard. Most Mongolians don't even have a pot for cooking. Not to mention plates or bowls for eating. Porcelain that holds water is even rarer. Only the nobility will have it. Therefore, although most Mongolians looked down on the physical weakness of the Han people, they used all kinds of utensils made by the Han people. See it as a status symbol. After entering the Central Plains, the status of the Mongols increased dramatically, so no matter how high or low they were, they would always collect one or two pieces of porcelain and keep them at home, and regarded them as a status symbol.

However, there are good and bad things like porcelain, and there are many cases of proving one's identity with brilliant porcelain. Just like the famous bag used by later generations, the famous car proved itself. Under the Mongolian aristocracy's extreme pursuit of porcelain quality, the centuries-old porcelain manufacturing experience of the Han people quickly changed qualitatively. Yuan Qinghua was born from this. And, due to the prosperity of miscellaneous dramas in the Yuan Dynasty. The craftsmen who fired paper porcelain soon combined the two arts.

Therefore, the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty not only has patterns rich in various meanings, but also paintings of famous historical stories in ancient China. For example, Guiguzi descending the mountain, and Xiao He Yuexia chasing Han Xintu, and so on. Of course, this kind of porcelain was difficult to fire, and only the princes and nobles of Mongolia could afford to use it. In the later generations, the number of survivors is naturally very small.

But in fact, in terms of its role back then, it was just equivalent to a calligraphy and painting hanging in the living room, or a comic book or comic strip that later generations would only read when they had nothing to do. It's just hundreds of years. There are very few objects of good quality that have survived back then, and this is why they are precious.

The pastel porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, which is also porcelain, is far less than the time span between the Yuan Dynasty and later generations. But its preciousness is still excessive.

In the awareness of ordinary people. Generally speaking, I think that the older the age, the more precious it is. But. In fact, there is a limit to this. The preciousness of an object does not only depend on how long it has been inherited, but also because of the difficulty of its production and the amount of effort it has taken to make it. What is more recent is not necessarily less valuable than something that is older. It's just that this value is often overlooked.

As the saying goes, the past cannot be admonished, but the coming can still be chased. In Jingdezhen in later generations, the imitation of blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty has already reached the point of being fake. From the formula of clay, artificial clay, vessel molding to the configuration of glaze, painting methods and raw materials, firing methods, etc., it is completely based on the scientific testing data of the unearthed cultural relics as the standard, and each process is carefully operated and meticulous.

In addition, in order to pursue the charm of Yuan blue and white and the charm of hand-made, when firing, they do not choose to use coal or natural gas, but choose to use the oldest firewood as fuel to fire porcelain. For each kiln of porcelain, it takes at least four trucks of pine wood and four trucks of pine firewood, which takes nearly one day and one night. And, in order to ensure the perfection of imitation, after the porcelain is out of the kiln, only one or two pieces that are flawless will become the final finished product.

Moreover, sometimes, in order to ensure that the porcelain cannot be identified, it is also necessary to take the porcelain through the security check twice, and mix some powder removed from the broken porcelain pieces of the Yuan Dynasty into the glaze. After such a well-made high imitation of Yuan blue and white in later generations, I don't know how many bricks and instruments have been planted. Its aesthetic value and craft value are basically no different from the serious Yuan blue and white flowers. And the price is only 1/10,000 of the auction price of the genuine product.

Regardless of whether the brick family of later generations is a pit or not, it can be seen that the value of a thing is geometric, and the determining factor is the effort used by people in the production. Compared with the blue and white of the Yuan Dynasty, the pastel porcelain carefully fired by the official kiln in the Qing Dynasty was further complex. The requirements are also more stringent. Therefore, it is natural that the value of its fine products is higher than that of some Yuan blue and white flowers. The price of a large number of pastel porcelain is still underestimated by later generations.

Pastel porcelain, founded in Kangxi, flourished in Yongzheng. Until the Qianlong period, the porcelain-making process was further advanced. The one in Qing Xiaoyi's hand, the bottom of the bottle is written in blue and white seal, writing "Yongzheng Year System of the Great Qing Dynasty". During the Yongzheng period, most of the official kiln products of pastel porcelain were exquisitely painted and lifelike. Just as praised in "Tao Ya", "the pastel is the most beautiful in the Yongzheng Dynasty, there is no ancients before, and there is no one after it, bright and dazzling".

According to the genuine transaction price at the auction before the rest of my life, the value of these two bottles is estimated to be several hundred million yuan! It's just that how can an American uncle's family have such a precious thing? And it still looks like it's abandoned?

Qing Xiaoyi heard Yu Sheng's question, sighed softly, and said to Yu Sheng: "The things we bought today are probably the items that were snatched up when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing that year!" ”

"How was this identified?"

Qing Xiaoyi carefully wrapped the two porcelain vases layer after layer with a coat, and after thinking that there would be absolutely no problem, she put them on the back seat of the car and let them go. Pick up that worn-out wooden suitcase. Use the clean rag you had on board to carefully wipe every edge and corner of this worn wooden suitcase.

When the dust is wiped off, the texture of the wood itself is revealed. The color of the black autumn becomes oily, and a delicate deep purple color floats. Yu Sheng looked at it and blurted out, "This is red sandalwood?" ”

"That's right! This is not only red sandalwood, but also its board materials must be cut out of large materials. Except for the former Qing court, it is basically impossible for anyone to use a whole red sandalwood tree that is so old and so large to make utensils. Presumably, the materials used in this rosewood suitcase are also the leftover materials after making large utensils. ”

Rosewood is this wood. It grows only in hot places in the south. It is rarely cultivated in China, but more in India and Southeast Asia. Chinese love red sandalwood, since the Shang Zhou period, the beginning of the Chinese civilization has begun. It is a top-quality wood for making wheels and furniture. Of course, most of the users of this precious wood are royalty or other top families. And these people's love and use of red sandalwood make it a symbol of identity.

And, in ancient times, due to natural dyes. Yellow and purple are hard to obtain. So yellow and purple became a sign of one's identity and status. If the purple cover and the yellow flag are covered, you should borrow the east wind of the red cliff. The natural purple color of red sandalwood just satisfies the pursuit of color for the upper class aristocracy.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the legacy of the Wei and Jin dynasties and the culture of the Hu people were integrated. China's furniture manufacturers are beginning to mature. Small objects made of red sandalwood appear in large numbers. And some of them have been handed down to future generations. In the Shokain Temple in Nara, Japan, there are several pieces of red sandalwood artifacts given by the emperors of the Tang Dynasty of China in the warehouse where the artifacts of the emperors of the past dynasties are kept.

Of course, due to the slow growth of red sandalwood. Therefore, most of the wood is not large, and can only be made into small pieces. The appearance of large pieces of red sandalwood. It was still in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In China, red sandalwood was soon in short supply and was cut down. Therefore, in the early years of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the West and distributed gifts to small countries along the way to demonstrate the national prestige.

On the return trip, due to the need for heavy ballasting. Rosewood, which is produced in tropical Southeast Asia, has become the best choice. As a result, a large amount of rosewood material entered China. However, the pursuit of a certain high-quality product by Chinese has always been very persistent. Just as the Chinese are patriotic, they must buy Japanese toilets and rice cookers. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the red sandalwood of Southeast Asian countries had been cut down almost because of the needs of the Chinese. At this time, China basically concentrated the vast majority of the world's red sandalwood.

And red sandalwood grows slowly, and if it doesn't grow for a hundred years, it can't be used at all. Therefore, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, they looked for red sandalwood everywhere. Along the coast, there is an endless stream of private trafficking. There are records of the acquisition of rosewood by the Qing Palace Office almost every year. Moreover, due to the needs of the royal family, an unwritten rule was even formed in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty - no matter what level of official, as long as they see rosewood, they must not let it go, they must buy it all, and then hand it over to the royal family.

However, even so, by the time of the Kangqian Dynasty, most of the red sandalwood had been bought. At this time, the only one who has red sandalwood in China is the royal family.

Most of the red sandalwood materials used by the royal family were accumulated during the Ming Dynasty. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her sixtieth birthday, there was not much left. And when Yuan Shikai ascended the throne, he used it all up. Qing Xiaoyi judged the material selection of the suitcase based on the texture of the wood, and further deduced that it was a royal thing, which was not an over-conjecture. Moreover, this suitcase just looks unpretentious. After opening, its workmanship is delicate and thorough, which is really different.

Qing Xiaoyi said as she opened the small wooden door of the suitcase, and then opened the three small drawers. Naturally, there was nothing in these three small drawers, only some dust. However, the rest of his eyes swept over, and he felt that something was not right. The three small drawers are so ingenious that they can be pulled to the end, but they obviously can't be removed in their entirety. And this length pulled out, there seems to be something problematic. If you don't look closely, you will never be able to see it.

Qing Xiaoyi seemed to be very familiar with the structure of this wooden suitcase. While fiddling, she said to Yu Sheng: "This suitcase has a mezzanine. Moreover, no one seems to have opened it yet. The craftsmen of the Qing court back then were all such a set of crafts. Originally, I also had such a small box, but instead of rosewood, it was made of golden silk nanmu. The structure is almost identical to this box. ”

"Generally speaking, a woman's favorite thing is not placed in a very conspicuous place. will be placed in this mezzanine. And if it is really the box that the Eight-Nation Alliance took away when it entered Beijing, it is estimated that in order to ensure that his beloved things are not obtained by outsiders, the original owner of this jewelry box will inevitably put his beloved things in the mezzanine! ”

While speaking, Qing Xiaoyi didn't know where to press the wooden block, and the top of the board on the back of the box that originally seemed to be a wooden board actually opened a hole of about three centimeters. It's a small mechanism!

And among them, there are several small boxes, neatly stuffed to the brim. If you don't know the mechanism, it's really hard to find its existence. Moreover, even if someone carried it around, it would not make the slightest sound. Let people perceive the existence of a mezzanine!

Qing Xiaoyi took out all the small boxes, a full nine. When opened, it was found that they were all tightly wrapped in bright yellow satin. The first one to be taken out by Qing Xiaoyi was a pendant with a length and width of about three centimeters. The texture of the pendant is transparent and clear, the workmanship is simple, the color is light grass green at one end, and bright red at the other end! This is a pendant made from a whole piece of watermelon tourmaline!

Although this pendant is not as valuable as Yuan blue and white and pastel porcelain, with this pendant, it is still possible to change a good three-bedroom apartment in second-tier cities in China in later generations......

With this unexpected surprise, the contents of the remaining small box will inevitably make the rest of your life a little disappointed. Although they are all precious things, they are just women's ornaments inlaid with precious stones, hairpins, steps, combs, rings, earrings, and ...... Although the material is top-notch, the value is not so high. (To be continued.) )