Chapter 85 The Black Market for Antiques (5)

  When the four of them came in, there weren't many people inside yet. However, they still chose a position that wasn't too close to the front. As Zhao Qirui would say, it's better to be moderate in such places.

  The evening auction, in terms of treatment, is undoubtedly better than the afternoon. Every time someone comes in, there are waiters who serve them water and fruit, no need to bring their own like in the afternoon.

  Taking advantage of the spare time, Ma Tuizi introduced Chu Chen to the rules of the auction, everything else was the same, but there was no such thing as a flow auction here, and the price increase of the auction items had to be in units of ten thousand.

  Chu Chen heard this and said with some surprise: "If everyone can see that it's a fake, do you still want to force the sale?"

  Ma Tuizi chuckled and said, "Well, this is also unavoidable. The prices of things here are originally lower compared to normal auctions, so even if we deduct the cost, we can't make much money. So, in the end, we have to give some subsidies, otherwise others won't be fools, what do you think, Chu Shao?"

  Chu Chen thought for a moment, and indeed it was reasonable, but he still felt a bit wronged in his heart.

  As more and more people arrived, however, Chu Chen noticed that there were some unfamiliar faces among them. When he saw two of them nodding at Zhao Qirui, he understood that these must be either big shots or regular customers. But what struck him as odd was that even those who knew each other didn't sit together.

  Before long, almost everyone had arrived. Chu Chen thought that Yu Guangjie (Chu Chen had asked Ah Chao his name earlier) might have something to do and wouldn't be coming.

  Just then, Yu Guangjie and Qian Changxing walked in together. When they saw the four of Chu Chen, they smiled at them, but Chu Chen always felt that there was a hint of schadenfreude in their smiles.

  Zhao Qirui's demeanor was quite good, and he even smiled and nodded at them. After they walked to their seats, Zhao Qirui laughed and said: "We may have lost the person, but we can't lose our composure. If there's a chance, we should also teach them a lesson."

  In the end, Chu Chen clearly felt a hint of anger in his tone.

  Five minutes later, it was estimated that all the customers had arrived, and the gate was locked. Then the auctioneer walked in, but this auctioneer was not the charming woman from the afternoon, but a middle-aged man with a magnetic voice.

  The auctioneer stepped onto the stage and the lights in the room dimmed. At the same time, the projector in the room was turned on.

  The auctioneer didn't waste any words and said: "Everyone here is an old customer, so I won't say much. The first item is a pair of rhinoceros horn long square plates."

  As the auctioneer spoke, two ushers walked out from a small door on one side and placed the pair of plates on the table on the stage. The projector also displayed photos of the two items, and a pair of exquisite rhino horn long plate appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

  Zhao Qirui asked Chu Xuan with great interest: "Xiao Chu, what's this thing?"

  Qī xī is also known as cloud carving. The craft involves applying multiple layers of red, black or other colors to the base material until a certain thickness is achieved, then carving out patterns at an angle so that different color layers are visible on the cut surface. Due to the exposed colored lacquer layers on the cut surface resembling the layered texture of rhinoceros horn cross-sections, it is named "Qī xī".

  In the "Ji Xiu Lu" written by Huang Cheng in the Ming dynasty, there is such a description of Qi Xi: "Qi Xi has red face, black face, and transparent purple face. Some have black lines between red, some have red stripes between black, some are covered with carved patterns, or three colors alternate. The patterns are all sparse carvings of sword rings, ring belts, double circles, and returning textures..."

  The carved lacquer belongs to the category of carved lacquer, and has its own unique style in the ancient lacquerware decoration techniques. The earliest discovery of carved lacquer dates back to the Song Dynasty. Mr. Wang Shixiang also mentioned: "The formation of carved lacquer may have been in the Song Dynasty. Its shape, pattern and Song Dynasty silverware have extremely similar places."

  Rhino horn carvings are the finest of lacquerware, a luxury item for aristocratic families, and among the heirlooms that have been passed down through generations, they are as rare as morning stars.

  "This pair of rhino horn long plate, looks pretty delicate in the photo, and rhino horn products were previously used by nobles, buying it also matches your identity, Zhao Ge, but I may not be too accurate in identifying rhino horn things."

  Chu Chen had some help from his special abilities, and judging the age was easy, but as for rhino horn products, he had only read some materials and hadn't done much research on actual objects, so he wouldn't be able to get into details. He just spoke directly, which also made it sound more authentic, after all, no one is an expert in every aspect of antiques.

  Zhao Qirui was taken aback by the words, but then he also thought of this problem and smiled: "That's right, otherwise you would be a real demon, but that doesn't matter, go try it first."

  Chu Chen went on stage and directly used his special ability, which was the first time he had used it today. Because there were many things at the auction, he had decided to use his special ability sparingly, but he hadn't expected to buy those few items in the afternoon, and the two items he appraised could also be identified by eye power alone.

  Nowadays, Chu Chen is good at identifying antiques with his eyesight, and he is most confident in ceramics and jade. For the time being, his main energy is also focused on these two aspects. However, he will also look at knowledge in other areas, no way, who let him have a photographic memory.

  Of course, this will definitely help him a lot in his study of antique appraisal. Just like now, although Chu Chen has not come into contact with rhino horn products before, by comparing them with the data in his memory and adding the judgment of the abnormal ability to the result, the learning speed is undoubtedly much faster.

  This pair of long-oval plates, about 38 cm in length and 14 cm in width, are entirely black lacquered with intricate carvings of auspicious patterns. Several layers of red lacquer are revealed through the black lacquer. The auspicious patterns are curved and symmetrical, with a stable and pure color tone. The craftsmanship is elegant and smooth, with fine and natural grain at the bottom of the plate.

  From the knife work, this pair of long plate can be said to be almost identical, and from several characteristics, it should be from the same person's hand, are the standard form of Ming dynasty lacquerware, and the inscription also confirms that this pair of long plate are works of the mid-Ming period.

  After walking back to his seat, Chu Chen said in a low voice: "It should be a pair of rhino horn carvings from the mid-Ming dynasty, very rare."

  Although Chu Chen said that this was a thing from the Ming Dynasty, he shook his head, and this action was naturally for others to see.

  He became cautious because first, the view here is better than this afternoon's place, and others can easily notice his movements. Secondly, the auction house is a place of mutual deception, not only to guard against others but also to be wary of Yu Guangjie and others who are watching with sinister intentions, so it's best to be cautious to avoid what happened this afternoon.

  "Really?"

  "This piece of work with the big open door, I won't misjudge it. If you're not confident, Zhao Ge, we can take a photo later and if it's not right, I'll buy it." Chu Chen said confidently.

  Zhao Qirui said sincerely: "Xiao Chu, you don't have to be like this either. Although we haven't cooperated many times, I can also see that when you identify something, you won't easily come to a conclusion. What you say, I will definitely believe."

  "Thank you for your trust, Zhao Ge, but I still want to say that if the thing I appraised is not correct, you can come to me and I will compensate you for all your losses."

  Chu Chen solemnly made the promise, after all, it was not often that the two of them collaborated, and he said so in order to dispel some of Zhao Qirui's doubts. As for making Zhao Qirui completely believe in him, he didn't have high hopes for that, but he believed that with his skills, Zhao Qirui would eventually come to admire him from the bottom of her heart.

  Zhao Qirui heard this and said with a smile: "Xiao Chu, don't be so serious. But I just like your personality, it's down-to-earth and makes people feel at ease."

  The auctioneer said, "Starting price is 10,000. Please start bidding."

  Thirty thousand

  "Fifty Thousand"

  I didn't expect this item to be liked by so many people, and in just a short while, someone has bid up to 1.2 million.

  Yu Guangjie also started bidding at "1.5 million".

  After this price came out, there was a silence around, and this price should be everyone's psychological price.

  Chu Chen originally thought Zhao Qirui would not bid anymore, but he unexpectedly quoted a price of 160,000 before the auctioneer ended the bidding.

  Yu Guangjie thought he had it in the bag, but unexpectedly someone else made a bid, leaving him slightly stunned. He turned his head to look at Zhao Qirui, who smiled back at him, and that smile seemed to have a deeper meaning to Yu Guangjie.

  Yu Guangjie smiled unnaturally and then turned back to frown and think for a while, but ultimately gave up on the quote, which was somewhat different from his aggressive attitude in the afternoon.

  Zhao Qirui was intently observing the rhino horn long plate in his hand. As soon as he got this pair of rhino horn works, he felt that they were not ordinary. In the antique industry, there is an old saying: good things will speak for themselves. Fake and inferior things can imitate colors and shapes, but they cannot imitate the spirit within.

  And this is the case with Qi Xi's works, which are full of divine charm. Imitations can't be done in this way at all. It's really like what Chu Chen said, it's a big open door thing.

  Chu Chen saw him so happy and guessed in his heart that it was not only because this pair of things was good, but also because he had slightly retaliated against Yu Guangjie.

  Next, the auction proceeded at a rapid pace, with twenty or thirty items hastily put on stage, among which were both genuine and fake ones. Of course, Chu Chen had not personally handled these items, but he could tell from the photos that two pieces of porcelain were counterfeit, so he knew there should be more than just these two fakes inside.

  However, whether it's true or false, the rules of the auction have been photographed and spread around. Chu Chen guessed that there must be more truth than falsehood in this matter. After all, the buyers present were either wealthy or noble. If they had committed an offense, they would not be able to stay in the capital city.