pappabearbooks 188
188
Chapter 188’s ending guidance is perfect!
After some discussion, the four of them started to act separately.
As a master of the National Museum, Lin Ran collected more than 500 million cultural relics at that time, so Lin Ran had quite a lot of appreciation experience.
He has handled no less than [-] authentic cultural relics, and has seen countless fakes!
In his previous life, he also met some craftsmen who made fakes, but in terms of skills and level, it was difficult to compete with the two people in front of him.
As the saying goes, antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times.
Now that the country's economy is on the rise, there has naturally been a boom in collecting antiques.
Where there are interests, there are rivers and lakes.
Some people began to dig ancient tombs and search for cultural relics.
And some people make fake products to deceive the world and steal their reputation.
The school of digging graves is quite popular among people, and it is a real job after all.
However, the schools and experts who make samples are like the tip of the iceberg. People know that there is such an industry at this time, but it is difficult to tell the clues.
The reason is that making fakes is a disgraceful thing. If you publicize it everywhere, you think you are too free and want to go to jail.
Lin Ran was filled with emotion as he held the three-color camel figurine that Wei Chengbin made overnight.
"Mr. Lin, now we just have to use the reagent you mentioned to process it." Wei Chengbin showed the sample to him.
Last time, Lin Ran told him how to process cultural relics to make them look more aged and even form traces of patina.
Wei Chengbin did as he was told, so what Lin Ran was holding was a lifelike imitation.
If you put it on Panjiayuan, as long as Wei Chengbin is not selling it, it will be snatched away instantly.
It can be said that Wei Chengbin's imitation level has reached its peak!
In this day and age, there is a high probability that no one will be able to detect his fakes.
But in later generations, with the emergence of various precision instruments, it was easy to determine the age of the things in your hands.
"There are two main problems in making fakes, one is the raw materials, and the other is the distress." Lin Ran told Wei Chengbin.
Although it was a very basic concept, Wei Chengbin nodded.
He knew that the biggest difficulty in making samples was the difference in raw materials, especially the products produced by official kilns back then. The imperial court used the best raw materials and master craftsmen, so how could it be understood by the people.
Most of the raw materials they used were fragments of cultural relics damaged by tomb robbers and taken home for research.
The result of Wei Chengbin's research is that kaolin is closest to the soil of Tang Sancai, and the kaolin was dug out from the side of the tombs, which also made up for the lack of tomb soil atmosphere.
Lin Ran mentioned this matter because Wei Chengbin had already done the intermediate process perfectly.
After drawing the shape and painting, Wei Chengbin made it look exactly like the ancient cultural relics.
However, the raw materials were not yet ready, so Lin Ran felt a little light when holding the Camel Tang Sancai in his hand.
Lin Ran had some ideas in his mind. He found some ground quartz powder and gave it to Wei Chengbin.
"This is??"
"During the shaping process, quartz powder and soil are mixed in a ratio of 1:10." Lin Ran said.
Pure kaolin, after being fired, has a white and delicate carcass, a hard surface, a small sound when knocked, and a light touch.
After mixed with quartz powder, the carcass formed has a loud sound and a heavier feel.
Wei Chengbin tried it, and the second camel Tang Sancai was indeed heavier than the previous one.
Although it can’t be seen from the outside, it feels infinitely close to the real thing.
Wei Chengbin was so impressed that it was just a small change, but it raised his craftsmanship to a higher level.
"By the way, Wei Chengbin, I want to ask you something. Will you leave a unique secret mark on the fakes?"
In Lin Ran's impression, the counterfeiting industry, especially the manual counterfeiting industry, has an unwritten rule.
He will leave a secret mark on his counterfeit goods. This function is to avoid legal risks. If he is caught, just like Wei Chengbin, he will insist that he never said that it was genuine.
Moreover, the fakes they make are used for auction overseas, and they try to find ways to exchange them for the genuine ones.
If they couldn't recognize it themselves, wouldn't it be easy to make a joke?
"Of course, it was..." Wei Chengbin was about to explain, but Lin Ran waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need to study.
"As long as you know it yourself, you don't need to tell me about the secret memory." Lin Ran didn't want to ruin his job.
Wei Chengbin nodded somewhat moved.
"Okay, your workmanship is basically perfect, let's talk about the distressing part."
Tang Sancai has a history of more than 1000 and [-] years. It is impossible not to leave traces in the long history.
Previously, Wei Chengbin also used the acetic acid processing method, but Lin Ran had already seen through it.
He believed that this method would soon be spread by word of mouth through the people of the Palace Museum and become popular among the people, so he decided to use another method of making old things.
Hydrofluoric acid.
Hydrofluoric acid, a craft product, was not easy to buy in this era, but through Yang Jianlong's relationship, it was still easy to get.
Because Yang Jianlong knew what they were doing, he directly brought a barrel of hydrofluoric acid over without any hesitation.
After Lin Ran diluted it according to a certain ratio, he placed the Tang Sancai made previously into it.
"Hydrofluoric acid is different from acetic acid. It cannot be soaked for too long and is relatively corrosive. Moreover, hydrofluoric acid is prone to oxidation reactions and is more likely to form an oxide film on the surface, which is the so-called coating."
Under Lin Ran's demonstration, after a while, the surface of Tang Sancai seemed to have been corroded by the ages, and there was a lot of sticky substance on the surface.
Lin Ran took it out and rinsed it in clean water. He poured down basin after basin of water, finally completely diluting the hydrofluoric acid.
Then put the three-color camel figurine into the soapy water you just prepared and soak it for 10 minutes before taking it out.
There are many small cracks on the glaze of Tang Sancai, and the color of rust appears in the cracks!
Except for the strong smell of chemicals, the surface looks very close to the traces of historical weathering.
"Bury it in the soil now. You can dig it out in a few days." Wei Chengbin was about to take action, but Lin Ran stopped him.
"Wait a minute." Lin Ran carefully checked the opening gap. He had not noticed it before.
Tang Sancai that has been treated with acid has wider gaps in the glaze.
The opening gap of the genuine product should be relatively fine.
"This is no longer usable. When you try to imitate it again, remember to apply a layer of soil on the surface first to reduce the contact area between the acid and the fake." Lin Ran pointed out the flaws to him.
Wei Chengbin suddenly realized that he had not noticed such small details.
"Making fakes is the same as making craftsmanship. Details determine the outcome," Lin Ran explained.
In other aspects, Wei Chengbin has done a good job.
For later generations of counterfeit Tang Sancai, the glaze was often carved one by one with an electric engraving pen. Wei Chengbin carved it himself with a file, leaving no other traces!