The Treasure Hunt of an Antique Dealer

I took the bronze mirror from Wang Deshun, it's huge!

The engineering team, there is a tape measure on the desk: Zhang Nan took it and measured it, it was 22 cm in diameter!

It's still heavy!

Most of the bronze mirrors in the Three Kingdoms period are relatively thin, not as thick as Han mirrors, but this bronze mirror is about 0.6 cm thick, which is very thick!

The whole mirror is pitch black, basically without green embroidery, and it seems to have a heavy sense of history at a glance. Bayi Middle School? Wen Wang? W? W ㈠ W?. ㈧8?1㈠Ｚ?W㈧. COM

Moreover, the lines on the back of this mirror are cleaned, which is obviously a "head mold mirror": the bronze mirror is a daily necessities and needs to be cast in large quantities. A mold will be used many times, not like those bronze rituals.

Therefore, when playing with bronze mirrors, in addition to paying attention to the general appearance, whether a headform mirror is also an important benchmark for measuring the value of a bronze mirror!

The so-called head mold mirror is also very easy to understand. It is the copper mirror that is cast for the first time. The texture is very clear, and the value is far more than the two-mode three-mode mirror. Generally speaking, the copper mirror with the same appearance is different. The transaction price on the auction market will differ by more than 1o!

"Ellen, this is the bronze mirror of ancient China? It's so beautiful!"

Nicole was also attracted by the pattern on the back of the mirror, "Isn't it a figure on top?"

"Yes, it's still a story, a portrait mirror."

There is no inscription on this bronze mirror that was popular in the Three Kingdoms period. It may have been cast during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Maybe it was a beloved object of the tomb owner's family.

Of course, it is also possible that it was cast during the Wu Kingdom period. No one understands this, but what is certain is that this bronze mirror can belong to the category of the Eastern Han Dynasty portrait mirror.

Zhang Nan pointed to the high-relief figure on the back and said: "The portrait mirror of the Eastern Han Dynasty ranks one of the three peaks in the history of Chinese ancient bronze mirror art exhibitions. Its brilliant artistic achievements are comparable to the high-relief craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, the portrait mirrors of the Eastern Han Dynasty are not only exquisite in craftsmanship, but also generally contain profound cultural connotations, which are difficult to compare with other types of bronze mirrors..."

The two American women have never seen a bronze mirror from China before. It is not surprising that they will see this bronze mirror with exquisite craftsmanship at least 17oo years ago.

There were also bronze mirrors in the ancient Western world. However, in West Asia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Greece, round plate mirrors were popular at that time, while China has always used round plate button mirrors, which formed two mirrors in ancient times. Two different types of bronze mirror systems for different regional civilizations.

To put it bluntly, Western mirrors generally have handles, while China's bronze mirrors use buttons.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that there were bronze mirrors with handles in Huaxia—but it clearly did not conform to the aesthetics of Huaxia people.

If the bronze mirror is connected to a brass handle, how awkward it is to think!

And although the bronze mirror decoration in ancient times in the West also has its own characteristics, if the craftsmanship is concerned, the Chinese bronze mirror can get rid of them. It is no wonder that Nicole and Jenny are surprised by the exquisiteness of this bronze mirror.

It is not surprising that the top bronze mirrors after the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty were unearthed in Yanxian County, because there are historical reasons for this.

Since the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the north has been wars and turmoil for years, and this mirror-making craftsmanship has declined; but in the south of China, the society is relatively stable, and it is located in Kuaiji next to Yan County. From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was the top mirror-making center in China. .

It is not surprising that top bronze mirrors from the Three Kingdoms Period of the Eastern Han Dynasty were unearthed in Yanxian County. It is said that there are quite a few in the warehouse of the Cultural Management Committee.

Zhang Nan looked at the back of the bronze mirror again and said to the two women: "This portrait story mirror tells a famous historical story about 25oo years ago in the history of China..."

what story?

Wu Yue is striving for hegemony, this is a portrait mirror of Mian Wu Zixu,

The back of the bronze mirror is divided into four groups with four **** on the back of the mirror, depicting the historical event that the King Yue and Fan Li planned to seek Wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and presented eight beauties including Xi Shi and Zheng Dan to King Wu, and finally forced Wu Zixu to succumb to death. .

The mirror rotates clockwise, with high-relief craftsmanship. The four zones are: Yue Wang and Fan Li→the second daughter of the Yue clan→Wu Wang→Wu Zixu.

The picture uses the narrative painting of the Han Dynasty to depict the scene of Wu Zixu who dared to advise him, but was finally given a sword by the king of Wu to commit suicide.

There are also three decorative patterns on the outer circle. The pictures are continuous and echo each other. The skilled craftsmanship depicts the characters' gestures and expressions vividly. The casting is extremely exquisite, which can be described as the best in the Eastern Han Dynasty portrait mirror!

However, the Chinese people can understand the story as soon as they mention it, but Nicole and Jenny can't do it: The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period have only known for a few months, and Wu Yue's struggle for hegemony is a bit too deep for them.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand, let's go back and study it slowly."

This is very interesting, but Nicole and Jenny still don’t know: Those who can understand English will be treated as if their ears are not brought—everyone will associate it with Xi Shi and Zheng Dan on the mirror, and so does the boss here. Two women accompany each other,

Ha ha…

Study slowly...

Jenny also took the bronze mirror and took a closer look, and found that the front of the mirror could still show a figure!

It feels even more incredible: Zhang Nan said that it was dug out from the soil. It has a history of more than 17oo years. Even if the mirror surface is already dark, it can still take a portrait!

"Isn't the copper rusty green embroidery? Why is it black?"

Jenny expressed her doubts, and Zhang Nan smiled and said: "This is the'black paint ancient'. Among the ancient Chinese bronze mirrors unearthed, there is only this kind of bronze mirror with a black and bright surface and a smooth and crystal-clear jade texture. This kind of bronze mirror is called the "black paint ancient" bronze mirror.

This kind of bronze mirror has excellent corrosion resistance and is especially popular with collectors. If the black lacquered bronze mirror is played in the hand for a long time, it will make the surface as bright as a mirror, and then it will be called ‘the ancient’.

As long as it is a bronze mirror with this characteristic patina, it is now a 100% authentic antique bronze mirror. The counterfeit craftsmanship in this society can't achieve this dark and shiny effect. "

Nicole was also listening, and said: "You haven't said how it will become black."

"It's hard to tell. This black lacquer bronze mirror generally has very little patina. Scholars have studied the ancient causes of black lacquer over the years. Basically, there are two views: one is the artificial treatment, and the second is the natural corrosion theory. .

The focus of debate among scholars today is whether the high-tin corrosion-resistant layer on the surface of the black-lacquered bronze mirror is artificially tinned, or is it produced by the action of humic acid under natural conditions.

I prefer the latter. "

When Jenny listened to Zhang Nan's analysis, she "chuckled" there.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Allen, scholar!"

Yes, I was despised by putting gold on my face.

"Which scholar has as many collections as I have? You can understand when you read more antiques. How can we count as a scholar?"

"Are you a rich man, scholar?"

Nicole also "haha"...

Forget it, don't continue to study this issue, otherwise it will never end.

I took things and prepared to leave the engineering company, because there was not much to do today, and I didn't bother to go back to the top of the mountain.

I made a call up, Zhang Nan planned to eat out, instead of going to Yanxi Hotel, he took two beauties to a food mecca in Laodizi, Yan County: Dongfeng Hotel!

It is a place for eating. Although the dishes of Dongfeng Restaurant may not be as fashionable as Yanxi Hotel, they can taste the most authentic local taste of Yanxian.

And a few years later, the city exhibition, the street where the hotel was located was demolished, and Dongfeng Hotel could only remain in the memory of the people of Yan County.

What's terrible is that with the disappearance of Dongfeng Restaurant, some Yanxian local dishes that were extremely time-consuming to make also disappeared. It must be said that this is the loss of history and culture, and it is the sorrow of foodies.

"Let the guys above come down when they are free, and taste the most authentic craftsmanship of the old chefs in Yan County."

That is the collective memory of a whole generation of Yanxian people about food: As long as you mention Dongfeng Restaurant, the color and fragrance of the food will deeply tease Zhang Nan's taste buds!

There are some dishes there, maybe even Tang Gui has never heard of it!

Ordinary people don’t go to Yanxi Hotel for dinner. This Dongfeng Hotel is the best place to entertain guests for dinner. It is known as the "International Hotel in Yanxian"!

And Dongfeng Restaurant has a feature: it has more female chefs than male chefs, and they have basically worked in this restaurant for a lifetime, and they didn't move their nests until they retire.

Some people say that the best cook must be a man, but that doesn't work in Dongfeng Restaurant.

...

The dishes are very earthy and authentic, and the people who eat today are very fashionable. This is probably the most foreigners in Dongfeng Hotel's history. There are no boxes in this club. There are a few curtains in the lobby on the second floor. It’s just a screen, this time the diners in Yan County took a good look at the diorama!

Three tables, 1oo yuan per table, this is currently the top side dish: 2o years ago, the most expensive table was 12 yuan!

Although the dishes are earthy, but the taste is not said, at least a group of Chinese and foreign big men directly gave a few tables of dishes to the "CD".

Tang Gui and Andy Lu didn't have a stable meal, and they were still studying the recipes of various dishes when they were eating.

After eating most of the food, I simply asked Guan Xingquan to accompany him to the kitchen: I heard that one was a chef from the army and the other was a Chinese chef from the United States. The chefs at Dongfeng Restaurant had doubts about the two local dishes. Knowing nothing but talking, talking endlessly.

During the meal, Nicole asked: "Alan, these are your traditional dishes from snacks to big dishes?"

"How can it be, how can it be eaten like this every day, and it will go bankrupt! Just come once when you are really greedy, and you will be satisfied if you are a person..."

A meal is almost one o’clock~www.wuxiaspot.com~Full of alcohol and rice!

In the afternoon, Zhang Nan had some fun for herself: to the Yanxian Cultural Management Committee!

The Yanxian Yue Opera Museum is about to start construction. As a full donor, Zhang Nan can certainly ask the relevant units about the situation: well-known for their care and protection-the current office conditions of the Cultural Affairs Commission are okay, and there will be some in the future Yue Opera Museum. Six or seven offices are provided to the Cultural Management Committee, and the entire floor of the exhibition hall is also owned by the Cultural Management Committee, which will become a historical cultural relics exhibition area.

However, this meeting is not really going to ask the director Zhang Heng what he wants. Zhang Nan is thinking about the warehouse of the Cultural Management Committee.

Not for money, just for fun!

Without our own intervention, the Yue Opera Museum would not be completed until 199o-when the Cultural Management Committee moved, it is estimated that a large number of things would be disposed of.

Zhang Nan didn't know what he had before, but he knew that in the 1990s, the Cultural Management Association sold a lot of good old jade wares.

Even if you don't use those things as treasures now, it's not bad to be able to flip through.