Wenchang Pavilion was the largest in the entire Heavenly Elegance Pavilion. At the same time, it had the most complete range of goods.
From the moment they entered the door, the outermost counter was filled with beeswax, turquoise, lobular rosewood, golden sycamore, agarwood, and other small bracelets and Buddha beads.
Further in, there were jade articles, jade pendants, agate products, and precious metal jewelry.
There were also the Four Treasures of the Study, lacquer ware, and Buddha statues.
Further in were porcelain, bronze, gilded, and other medium-sized objects.
On the walls on both sides of the shop, there were all kinds of famous calligraphy and paintings hanging in glass frames.
The innermost part was filled with old-fashioned furniture, antique tables, chairs, and wooden cabinets.
Chen Feng surveyed his surroundings.
"Mr. Chen, what do you think?" The boss asked him to sit down. How could the things in my shop catch your eye?”
Chen Feng smiled." These are basically all real stuff. There are also new jobs."”
The so-called new work was a modern imitation.
The boss was shocked.
"I forgot to introduce myself." I'm Wan Lou, the owner of Wenchang Pavilion. Please enlighten me, Mr. Chen?”
Chen Feng pointed at a counter and said," Let's not talk about too many things. Look at that mirror."”
It was an ancient bronze mirror.
Upon hearing Chen Feng's words, Boss Wan immediately called out to his subordinates.""Shengzi, bring that mirror over and go to the door to take a look.”
The antique business was all about friendship and fame.
Unless one possessed a system like Chen Feng or possessed a special ability like the " Golden Eyes " in novels, one could guarantee that they would not buy fake goods.
Who could guarantee that they would always buy the real thing?
Most of the time, the identification of antiques depended on the naked eye. Even tigers would sometimes doze off. It was hard to guarantee that no one would miss the key details when their eyes were dazzled and their minds relaxed during the identification.
She treated the real as fake and the fake as real.
Not to mention whether it was real or fake, even if the year was wrong, or if the folk kiln was imitated as an official kiln and was treated as a real official kiln, the difference would easily be millions.
Therefore, friendship and reputation were especially important in the antique business.
If he bought it from a trustworthy person, the probability of it being authentic would naturally be much higher.
Many antique shops were like this. If they didn't open for three years, they would eat for three years.
He relied on the occasional transaction of an acquaintance.
At this moment, Old Wan's heart was in his throat.
If people found out that there were fake goods in his shop, there would be no need for him to continue opening his shop.
The boss of the Elegant Pavilion would kick him out.
Old Wan respectfully placed the bronze mirror before Chen Feng.""Teacher Chen, please give me some pointers.”
Chen Feng did not even touch it. He only said," The earliest records of copper mirrors originated from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Most of them were forged using the 'joint forging' and 'open forging' methods. Later on, during the Warring States Period, there was also a separate casting technique, but it was lost a long time ago. Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries and died after two generations. Until the Han Dynasty, when the world was settled, the craftsmanship of this mirror had developed greatly. The transparent bronze mirror appeared. It was called the "Illusion Mirror" by the ancients. It was the best among the bronze mirrors. In the Tang Dynasty, with the development of smelting and casting technology, the shapes became more varied and unique…But you also know that the rules of our country prohibit the sale of antiques before the Song Dynasty. When you collected this mirror, you should have treated it as a Song mirror. Am I right?”
Old Wan nodded repeatedly." Teacher Chen is indeed an expert and a great craftsman. You're right."”
Chen Feng tapped the mirror with his fan.""The people of the Song Dynasty were pragmatic and paid attention to the practicality of artifacts. Therefore, whether it was furniture or porcelain, they were mainly plain colored. This was why the five famous kilns, Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding, were developed. The mirror was the same.
There were not many mirrors in the Song Dynasty. Most of them were round or square, with pictures of fish and insects on the back and good water pavilions. There were also those without patterns. The image was vivid and the posture was graceful. This mirror fits."
Wan Lou was stunned." Yes, then what did Mr. Chen say? There's something wrong with this mirror?"”
"The forging techniques of the Song Dynasty must have changed greatly from the previous dynasty. Most of them are made of brass, with a significant decrease in tin content and a large increase in lead content. Therefore, compared to the older mirrors, the old mirrors will have mottled copper patterns over time.”
"Yes, that's why I can't sell it at a high price. To be honest, when I bought this mirror, I only spent a few hundred thousand.”
" That's the crux of the problem…Look at the copper patterns on the mirror. They don't look like bronze rust, but rather like bronze rust. They don't look like rust from the Song Dynasty, but more like rust from the pre-Qin period…"
After saying that, Chen Feng gave Wan Lou a meaningful glance.""When you bought it back then, you must have noticed that this place was different. Therefore, you thought that the other side was a wooden club and that you didn't know anything about it. You ruthlessly lowered the price and bought it as a bronze mirror from the Song Dynasty. Actually, what he was thinking was that he had received an item that was at least worth two Han Dynasty, right?”
Wan Lou's eyes widened. Indeed…"
"He's just trying to figure out your mentality. He pretends not to understand, but he knows better than anyone else.”
Hearing this, Wan Lou hesitated." But I've checked this mirror. It's really old."”
At his level, the boss was no longer limited to using the naked eye to identify. The scientific age test was more reliable.
" Haha!" Chen Feng laughed out loud." The composition is old, so is the mirror old?"”
"What do you mean?"
"In the previous dynasty, there was a craft. Collect the bronze fragments of the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, cast them again, and polish them. The material was indeed old material, but the work was new! However, this skill had already been lost. If I'm not wrong, this bronze mirror of yours is at most from the previous Qing Dynasty. Although it was not a new job, it was definitely not old enough.”
"There's such a thing? But how do you know?"
" Using this method, because the materials are all kinds of copper fragments, not original copper, the density of the casting is different, and it will leave fine spots and patterns on the surface of the copper…Look at this with a magnifying glass…"
After saying that, Chen Feng tapped lightly with his fan.
Wan Lou quickly took out a magnifying glass and looked carefully.
Sure enough, under the magnifying glass, the mirror revealed an irregular pattern that was quite out of place.
"Originally, if you had observed carefully, you would have noticed that something was wrong. However, you already had the mentality of picking up the leftovers at that time, and you felt that you didn't care about hundreds of thousands, so you fell for it.”
Wan Lou picked up the metal ashtray beside him and was about to smash it down when Chen Feng stopped him.""Why did you smash it? This is also the blood and sweat of ancient craftsmen. Although it wasn't on the right path, it was still a craft. Moreover, it was something from the previous Qing Dynasty.”
"The ancients said that using copper as a mirror can straighten one's clothes, using history as a mirror can tell the rise and fall, and using people as a mirror can tell the gains and losses. Keeping this mirror can also be considered as reminding you to have a normal heart.”
Hearing this, Old Wan put down the ashtray in his hand and bowed to Chen Feng.""Mr. Chen, we've never met before. You've helped me so much the first time we met. If it weren't for you, I don't know how much trouble I would have to carry. Moreover, you have taught me such important knowledge. I really don't know how to repay you.”
"In the future, if you have any problems, as long as I can do it, I will not decline!”
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