Pick up bargains in Chinatown and make 10,000 times the profit at the beginning

Chapter 105: Imperial Kiln Celadon Porcelain

Humans have been using cosmetics since ancient times.

It can be traced back to primitive society, when some tribes would apply animal fats on their skin during sacrificial activities to make their skin look healthy and shiny. This can be regarded as the earliest skin care behavior.

Between the 5th century BC and the 7th century AD, there were many legends and records in various countries about the making and use of cosmetics, such as the ancient Egyptians using clay to curl their hair, the ancient Egyptian queens using verdigris to outline their eye circles and bathing in donkey milk, the ancient Greek beauty Aspazi using isinglass to cover wrinkles, and many makeup tools also appeared.

In ancient China, people also liked to apply rouge on their cheeks and use hair oil to moisturize their hair to highlight the beauty and charm of their faces.

In my country, at the end of the Shang Dynasty more than 1,000 years BC, there was already a beauty product called "Yanzhi", which is today's "Baozhi". At that time, red orchid leaves grown in Yan were pounded into juice and coagulated into fat for face decoration.

At that time, the use of cosmetics was mainly in the palace, and gradually spread to the people. The form was from self-production and self-use to small workshops with centralized production.

Famous cosmetics workshops in history are Xie Fuchun in Yangzhou and Kong Fengchun in Kangzhou, both of which have a history of more than 100 years and were developed by collecting and refining aromatic substances to supply the palace.

So, don’t think that everything is a modern invention.

The ancients were no worse than modern people, especially in terms of the living conditions of the aristocracy, which are even unimaginable for modern people.

"Is such a small porcelain box valuable?" Henry asked.

Judging from Lin Yuan's expression, he seemed to be coming for the porcelain box, and the porcelain plate was just a bonus.

"Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain must be valuable! At least hundreds of thousands of dollars!" Lin Yuan said to everyone.

According to the "valuation" of the treasure hunter, the value of this porcelain box is over one million US dollars.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars for just this little thing?"

David and the others were very surprised, even my uncle was no exception.

"Is it from the Northern Song Dynasty or the Southern Song Dynasty?" asked my uncle.

The official porcelain of the Song Dynasty represents the highest achievement of the Han nationality's ceramic art. It is one of the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty and was built directly by the government. There are two types of official kilns: the Northern Song Dynasty official kilns and the Southern Song Dynasty official kilns.

"Southern Song Dynasty powder green glaze." Lin Yuan said affirmatively.

Although official kiln porcelain accounts for only a very small proportion of Song Dynasty porcelain, due to its position and superior conditions, it was able to produce a number of high-end porcelains needed by the court at that time, with its superb firing technology and immortal artistic value.

Its typical feature is the psychedelic and dazzling glaze color. The glaze color does not have a constant standard and uniformity like that of Ru kiln. The sky blue glaze color can be vaguely seen in the early official kilns.

Later, official kiln porcelain gradually got rid of the influence of Ru kiln, the shapes of vessels continued to increase, and the glaze colors became more "colorful", including light green, gray green, beige, emerald green, moon white, etc., which were more lively and diverse than Ru kiln.

"Is it valuable even if it's cracked?" Paul was puzzled.

That's right! This porcelain box looks like it has many cracks on its surface.

"That's called crackling. It's like this. In the eyes of Chinese people, this is also a kind of beauty." Lin Yuan explained.

The crazing of the official kiln was neither a flaw that occurred during firing nor oldness and cracks caused by time, but an intentional aesthetic of craftsmanship. It also set a precedent for using glaze crazing as a means of porcelain decoration in later generations.

In fact, the crazing phenomenon of porcelain before the official kiln was the phenomenon that cracks appeared on the glaze surface due to the inconsistent shrinkage and expansion coefficients of the body and glaze during the firing process.

It is undeniable that before crazing was used as a decorative method, it was considered a flaw in porcelain.

Users or collectors try their best to avoid this phenomenon, and it is not appreciated as a beauty. However, most of the cracks that appear during firing are very small, like a needle or a hair, and can only be seen by the naked eye when you get close, and are not obvious from a distance.

Not only official kiln porcelain, but even Ru porcelain has the phenomenon of cracking.

However, the cracking phenomenon of Ru kiln glaze is more obvious and prominent than that of previous celadon. The descriptions of Ru kiln cracking such as "crab claw pattern", "cicada wing pattern" and "fish roe pattern" are just the elegance of the ancients.

"Uncle De said that this glaze color is the best." The uncle said while holding his mobile phone. At this moment, he had contacted Uncle De and sent the photo to Uncle De.

Uncle De is so nervous.

This is a reward as soon as you go out!

He knew about antique exchanges, which were held from time to time by Chinese collectors, and he himself had participated in many of them. But it was a bit difficult to find bargains at the exchanges.

You have to know that people who can participate in the exchange meeting are usually people with some vision and some ability. Is it your turn to take advantage of the opportunity?

This is no less than finding a bargain at an auction, it is rare to see one.

Lin Yuan nodded: "The Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Palace had very high requirements for the color of porcelain glaze. It required the glaze to be green with a slight yellow tint, not gray. The soft, elegant, and pleasing green color was the highest realm pursued by the official kiln porcelain of the Southern Song Dynasty."

It is said that to achieve a powder-green glaze, on the one hand, the glaze must be lime-alkali glaze, and on the other hand, the glaze layer must be very thick.

In addition, the content of iron (Fe) in the glaze plays a vital role in color. When the iron (Fe) content is around 1%, the probability of presenting a pale green color is high. When it is less than 0.7%, the color is basically light, mostly moon white and other colors. When it is greater than 1.2%, the color is darker, mostly emerald green and other colors.

"Uncle De said that if this is really the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln celadon, it is worth at least one million US dollars." My uncle said again.

The tone was very exciting.

Of course, assuming this is true.

He wanted to take it back immediately to show it to Uncle De.

Henry gasped.

Paul and the others didn't understand much Chinese and didn't feel anything. However, when Henry translated it for them, they all took a deep breath and contributed to global warming.

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "The Southern Song Dynasty official kiln celadon is rare. Rare things are valuable. It's not surprising!"

The official kiln's powder-green color and elegant gold threads are treasured by the world and have been imitated throughout the ages. However, due to the complicated craftsmanship, it is difficult to make fine pieces. The official kiln pieces handed down from generation to generation are rare, and even the collections of the National Palace Museums on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are only a handful.

In the past, auctions of Southern Song Dynasty official kiln celadon porcelain were almost always worth tens of millions of RMB, or even over 100 million.

For example, more than ten years ago, a Southern Song Dynasty official kiln powder green glaze paper hammer bottle was sold for HK$6753 million, setting a world auction record for Song Dynasty porcelain at that time.

A few years ago, a Southern Song Dynasty official kiln green glaze octagonal string pattern pan-mouthed vase appeared on the auction market and was sold at a sky-high price of HK$1.14 million.

and many more.

Henry and the others were speechless.

You say that so easily.

Of course, making money is too easy.

They were glad that they had found Lin Yuan as their big thigh. Any little bit of food that slipped through his fingers would be enough for them to eat and drink their fill.

David came back with the mural in his hands.

He happily told Lin Yuan and others that he only spent three thousand dollars on this thing.

It can be said that they made a fortune. At least for David, they made a fortune.

(End of this chapter)