The Treasure Hunt of an Antique Dealer

Silverware has been widely used in British society for hundreds of years. Especially after the industrial revolution, as long as families with a certain economic strength, they will basically purchase several sets of silver products such as tea sets and tableware, let alone those. Big merchants, factory owners and nobles. Bayi? Chinese website=≤≤≠≤≠≠≤≈≈≈

The popularity of silverware in British society is much higher than that of China. This is related to their different historical and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, the British silverware collection is also a very representative collection project with a broad social foundation.

Of course, this is only limited to Western society, and British collectors basically not only use these antique silverware as furnishings, but also often use them as practical objects.

This is very different from China's porcelain collection-porcelain is fragile, and probably only Zhang Nan can drink with a chicken cup.

In addition, the silverware handed down from various periods in the UK has different patterns of seals according to the purity of the silver. It is not simply a matter of marking the purity of the percentage. It is very complicated and obscure.

There are also silverware produced in different ages and regions with different heraldry. If Zhang Nan wants to learn to collect British antique silverware, it will take a little effort to reach a level of understanding!

Fortunately, because of Zhang Nan’s good business dealings and no counter-offer, the stall owner said that if he is interested, he can find a few bookstores to buy books that specialize in British silver heraldry, but the book is big and heavy enough. , Expensive!

Books are not cheap, and there is no piracy here.

General stores in the UK do not bargain, but excluding the'car trunk market', where bargaining is possible, so the stall owner finds Zhang Nan refreshed.

"Well, buy a copy before you go back, or take a look when you are free."

Xiang Weirong still couldn't understand quick English conversations, but fortunately, there is a Guan Xingquan who can translate: Zhang Nan is shopping, and these two are not idle, just watching strangely nearby.

The things on the stalls in the UK are obviously different from those in China, and they are also somewhat different from those in the United States. Buy some practical ones, even if you don’t need them all at once, they will be beautiful and exotic.

Xiang Weirong bought a silver tea set to make black tea: a teapot and two silver pots with lids, and a matching silver tray, but no cups.

British tea cups are generally not made of silver, they prefer to use porcelain.

But this is not a problem. There is a porcelain stall next door, and the two went to buy 6 identical porcelain cups.

The silverware that my brother-in-law liked was a bit old, and it was not expensive anyway. Zhang Nan calculated the weight of the silver price, so he didn't participate in the purchase of brother-in-law and the others.

Those tea cups were asking for 1 pound and 5o pence, and Xiang Weirong paid back the bargain. A set of 6 was finally sold at 8 pounds. Obviously, there was no talent for bargaining.

Because the three will travel to several countries, these items are obviously inconvenient to carry when they pass the customs, but they can already be mailed, and they can be shipped to China, as long as they are packaged.

The four planned to leave the market after wandering for a while, but soon they stopped in front of a stall: the stall owner put out a lot of miscellaneous things, silverware, porcelain, wood, toys...

Everything is a little messy.

Porcelains are all second-hand goods, basically all "Western goods" in the eyes of Zhang Nan and the three people. They are all exotic in style and pattern, but Guan Xingquan, who is sharp-eyed, sees a Chinese-style vase among a large number of Western goods.

"Anan, there is a bottle." Guan Xingquan said, walking to the stall.

This is good for British street stalls. As long as it is a little valuable and easily damaged, the seller will usually put a small price tag on it. As long as they see such items, buyers can pick them up and look at them without worrying about problems.

Guan Xingquan saw the "2o pound" label on the vase, and picked it up.

Zhang Nan took it and took a look at the figure vase, "Guangcai vase, porcelain for export."

"Guang Cai?" Guan Xingquan asked.

"Well, Guangcai, also known as'Guangzhou Zhijin Colored Porcelain', is the abbreviation of the art of on-glaze colored porcelain in Guangzhou. It refers to the low-temperature on-glaze colored porcelain fired in Guangzhou and this type of porcelain. Decoration technique. It was popular in the middle and late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. It was basically something that was specially fired for export. It was basically not available in China, and it did not conform to our aesthetics at the time."

As he said, Zhang Nan pointed to the vase and said: "Look, the whole bottle pattern is very tightly composed, especially the rich colors and magnificent colors. It looks like a piece of golden silk painted. Because most of them are used for export. It was designed and made to cater to the preferences of foreigners at the time."

Zhang Nan speaks the Yanxian dialect, even if someone here understands Chinese, he can say it unscrupulously, absolutely no one understands a proper level password.

But when John also leaned over, Zhang Nan changed to English again out of politeness, "Look at the style on the bottom of the bottle."

Speaking of turning the bottle upside down, the bottom is two lines of blue "Qianlong Nianzhi" written vertically, but what is particularly interesting is that there is a circle around the four Chinese characters in English:; I fiddled with the details of the bottle again, and said:" The export of Cantonese porcelain basically only started in the Qianlong reign, but this bottle is rich in color, using paints made by Guangzhou craftsmen in the late Qing Dynasty, which is much richer than the imported materials used in the Qianlong period.

This should be a bizarre combination of the late Qing Dynasty consignment and the standard English for export porcelain. It is not common, but it is not rare. The painter is good. "

This sentence is in Chinese, lest the stall owner hear it.

I made a counter-offer with the stall owner, and finally the vase was sold for 18 pounds.

"good stuff?"

The question was Xiang Weirong.

Zhang Nan shook his head: "It's a bargain, not very valuable. But this thing is beautiful, and it is suitable for a house in Long Island. The number of these export porcelains in Europe and the United States is very large, and the collection value of this society is not high, but it is estimated that in a few years Many will return to China and become a tool for some people to make money."

Although this vase is good, it will cost 10,000 to 20,000 more than 20 years later. Most of the returned porcelain vases for export are even hundreds of thousands of prices, and only a few of the fine products can cost hundreds of thousands.

As for Europe and the United States, this thing is really common. Later, although the price is no longer the price of a land stall, it is also hyped up by the Huaxia people. The Chinese export porcelain in antique shops in European and American countries can be said to be specially prepared for Chinese people, and very few Europeans and Americans buy and collect them by themselves!

But this vase was the first export porcelain vase that Zhang Nan encountered after his rebirth and felt that he was still alive. Even the mailing fee might be more expensive than the purchase price, but he still bought it.

I paid, and took the vase that the stall owner had packed in a cardboard box. I was about to leave, but I saw that the stall owner took out a wooden box from the box under the folding table and placed it in a place that was vacated after the vase was sold. .

"Mr., I almost forgot. I also have a small box here that is also from China. Can you see?"

The price is 5o pounds.

This is a mahogany decorated box with copper buckle edges. It is 3o centimeters high. There are two small doors on the front. When opened, it reveals 5 layers of small drawers: the few drawers are used to put decorations.

As soon as Zhang Nan saw the wooden box, he took a look at the box without saying anything.

Guan Xingquan was quicker and he was ready to pay, but when he heard what Zhang Nan said, he stopped temporarily.

"Just this one box? Not a complete set."

Zhang Nan was boring the foreigner, Guan Xingquan could hear it, this was just a rhetoric.

When the stall owner heard it, he was really deceived: "It's just such a box. I bought it in a market a few days ago and I will make you a difference."

Yes, it's out of stock, why is it still consuming!

Guan Xingquan paid the money right away, that is frisky!

"Leave John, go see the house."

Regardless of the stall owner holding fifty denominations of banknotes, they have withdrawn!

As soon as he arrived in the car, Guan Xingquan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked, "A Nan, it seems to be a good thing!"

"Haha, it's not worth going to Hotan once, Brother Guan!"

Zhang Nan can't understand the wood, but the value of this decoration box is no longer in the wood material of the box~www.readwn.com~, but in the 5 pieces inlaid on the left and right sides, top, back and two small doors of the box. Hetian jade pendant!

How can a decorated box that looks the most decades-long inlaid with Hetian jade pendants, and it also appeared in the UK?

In fact, the process and reasons in the middle are not bizarre at all, and Zhang Nan knows it clearly.

All his mothers are for exporting to earn foreign exchange!

This is not an antique with a history of hundreds of years at all, but a product from the early days of liberation. The workmanship is first-rate. Although Zhang Nan calls it mahogany for the time being, it is dark in color, and it may be red sandalwood!

But even if it is the small leaf red sandalwood wood, more than 90% of the value of the box is on those pieces of Hetian jade!

Zhang Nan will take a closer look. There are a total of five pieces of nearly No. 1 white Hetian jade pendant. The top piece is the Meizigang brand, which seems to be a work of the late Ming Dynasty.

The length and width of the two jade tiles on the left and right sides are almost 12 by 7 cm. The bas-relief technique is estimated to be in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. The two themes are Fu Lu Shou, the volume is very large, and the pair is even more rare! (To be continued.)