pappabearbooks Chapter 1652: The first treasure
Chapter 1652: The first treasure
After the auction ended, the competition finally began.
"Today's auction is just an appetizer, and the main meal will follow." Boss Huang announced with a smile that the treasure fighting party has officially begun.
I have watched the amateur competition before.
It can only be described as barely visible, and it is still far from being a truly high-end auction item. After all, the contestants are all civilian enthusiasts, and the objects they bring are basically gadgets passed down from their ancestors, which are not high-quality.
The professional group is different.
"Now please welcome the first contestant to the stage with warm applause!" Boss Huang obviously knows how to adjust the atmosphere.
He held out his hands to keep those below applauding.
There must be people in the atmosphere group among the audience, who are very obedient.
He turned around immediately.
"The first guest to appear is named Lu Zhaorong."
I saw a beautiful woman walking to the front of the stage, and her every move revealed her ladylike temperament.
She showed her little tiger teeth and said with a smile: "Thank you, Boss Huang, for inviting me to participate in this treasure fighting party. I have seen two treasures before, which makes the treasures I am about to show a little pale."
The two treasures just auctioned are indeed priceless.
Almost all of them can be said to be national treasure-level cultural relics. In comparison, the collections of ordinary collectors seem a bit inferior.
Boss Huang smiled and said: "Miss Lu is serious. With the strength of the Lu family holding group, this little money really doesn't need to be taken seriously."
"Hey, money doesn't talk about money in the antiques circle." Lu Zhaorong said with a smile, "We only look at the preciousness of the treasure. Too much money is tacky. Don't let money hurt the purity of the treasure."
Her words made everyone in the audience quiet down.
As expected of a lady, she speaks with grace.
After some polite greetings, everyone got to know Miss Lu.
"I am Lu Zhaorong, the first contestant in this treasure fight. In fact, my profession is also an auctioneer." She looked around the audience, and finally her eyes rested on Lin Ran.
"Since everyone is interested, I will show my shame."
Lu Zhaorong's assistant carried a small box to the stage.
No ambiguity, just opened the box.
A small, refined bronze mirror appeared on the table.
The people in the audience looked at each other and whispered among themselves.
"What is this?"
"A prop used by ladies in ancient times to put on makeup."
"I still have a bronze mirror at home, but it's not as useful as a mirror."
"Is this thing really worth anything?"
"Are you blind?" An old man heard their discussion and said dissatisfiedly: "Can't you see? The patterns around this bronze mirror are completely different from what you usually see."
As he said, bronze mirrors are very different from ordinary mirrors in terms of appearance and characteristics.
Ordinary mirrors usually appear round, while table mirrors appear hexagonal.
There is also a dragon pattern on the surface of the mirror.
The diameter is about 15 centimeters, but the thickness is less than 1 centimeter.
"What my little sister brought is a bronze mirror with dragon patterns from the Ming Dynasty."
Because of its age, the surface of the bronze mirror has long been covered with a layer of rust, and it no longer functions as a mirror.
But the dragon pattern behind it is extremely conspicuous.
Bronze mirrors were first popular during the Han Dynasty. After the Yuan Dynasty, the dragon became a symbol of the royal family.
Therefore, the value of dragon pattern bronze mirrors is self-evident.
The three judges on the stage also began to evaluate Tongjin.
"Why do I feel like cultural relics from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are all over the streets?" Guan Yun complained.
Before joining Lin Ran, he had basically never seen antiques. He only visited ancient tombs once during a mission and assisted archaeologists in digging out antiques buried underground.
After really entering this circle, I found that antiques are everywhere in the streets.
Lin Ran smiled and said nothing.
The Ming and Qing dynasties were the closest to the present era and lasted longer, so naturally there were more objects left behind.
However, cultural relics of the level of dragon-patterned bronze mirrors are still relatively rare.
As expected of a professional group competition, Wang Zha was the winner at the beginning.
The judges on the stage looked very seriously.
Identifying bronze mirrors with dragon patterns is not a simple matter.
First of all, we need to observe the craftsmanship. The bronze mirror production technology of each dynasty will use different casting processes.
The production level of bronze mirrors in the Ming Dynasty reached its peak.
The surface of the bronze mirror will be finely polished until it can reflect a clear image.
Bronze mirrors of the Ming Dynasty usually have clear and deep textures and smooth and natural lines.
Of course, it is also the target of modern counterfeiters.
If you want to identify the authenticity, you have to look for the casting traces.
If you find staining marks, it basically means it is a fake.
Modern technology is limited, and since this is a folk treasure fighting event, it is natural that no professional equipment is prepared.
To identify the material of a bronze mirror depends entirely on the professionalism of the judges.
Since it is a bronze mirror with a dragon pattern, as a representative of the royal family, it is natural to use high-quality copper materials.
The quality will be heavier than ordinary bronze mirrors, and the color will be brighter.
It sounds complicated, but for professional treasure appraisers, these are the basic bronze mirror identification skills and methods.
The judges apparently frequently identified bronze mirrors and quickly came to their conclusions.
"Yes, it is indeed a dragon-patterned bronze mirror from the royal family of the Ming Dynasty."
"It's just that I don't know which empress used it?"
From the back of the bronze mirror, you can see the noble status of the user.
But the strange thing is that the name of the holder is usually written at the end.
But there is nothing behind the positive statistics except the dragon pattern.
Lu Zhaorong bit his lip: "Actually, I bought this bronze mirror from the Shanxi Ghost Market. The manufacturing process of this bronze mirror is completely different from the rough customs of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and incorporates more of the ladylike temperament. That’s what I think is important about it.”
"When I bought it back, the chronological inscription was blurred. According to the seller's description, this coin should have been minted around the 40th year of Wanli Year in the Ming Dynasty."
"Most of the bronze mirrors made during this period were rough and had a strong flavor of Tang mirrors. But this bronze mirror is completely the opposite, it looks more graceful. Looking at the patterns on the back, it also uses dragon patterns. The surrounding area is filled with water wave patterns.”
"So I guess this bronze mirror was specially customized by a certain empress."
When Lu Zhaorong said these words, he looked very proud and proud.
However, Lin Ran and Mr. Zhu sighed at the same time.
Even if this bronze mirror is known to be from the Ming Dynasty, the specific year and owner cannot be determined.
This is the destruction of traditional culture by tomb robbers. After they dig out the things from the ancient tombs, they directly sell them on the ghost market and fall into the hands of different collectors.