Riding the wind of rebirth

"Later, Benba pots were mostly used to worship Buddha by inserting grass, and the function of the spout lost its meaning, so it evolved into a shape that only retained the pot body, and the pot wine became a bottle, like these two bottles, and were called 'hidden grass pot' or 'inserted grass' Benba."

"So the medieval emperor of your country was inspired by the art of sticking grass and used it to stick lots?" Elizabeth asked.

"It's very likely." Zhou Zhi nodded. "In fact, ever since Emperor Kangxi sent troops from Qing and Shu to Tibet to encircle and annihilate the Gar army that occupied the Snowland at the time, the cultural exchanges between the Snowland and the hinterland of China have never stopped. Emperor Qianlong's father even converted the mansion he lived in before ascending the throne into a Tibetan Buddhist temple. Therefore, many items in the two places have also influenced each other."

"So this pair of bottles is what the emperor used in the ceremony to identify the reincarnated monk?"

"That's not the case. The benba used for drawing lots is made of gold and inlaid with many precious gems." Zhou Zhi explained: "However, many people in the Qing Dynasty court believed in Tibetan Buddhism, so various Tibetan ritual vessels inevitably entered the court. The emperor and his concubines decided to use the best craftsmanship at the time to make them to express their piety."

"In the snowy regions, Benba bottles are generally made of metals such as gold, silver and copper. When they were brought to the interior, the emperor ordered an agency that provided porcelain to the royal family to produce a batch of exquisite porcelain that met royal standards based on the shapes of Tibetan ritual vessels and combined them with traditional Chinese porcelain craftsmanship and patterns."

"This is a perfect combination of traditional snow-covered areas and imperial porcelain, and is also a historical witness to the integration of Han and Tibetan cultures. As Emperor Qianlong was a devout believer in Tibetan Buddhism, he spared no effort in manpower and material resources to order the southern imperial porcelain production units and the Imperial Household Department to produce various Buddhist items such as the Seven Treasures and Eight Treasures of Tibetan Buddhism, the Duomu Pot, and the Benba Bottle. He personally gave specific guidance on their use, shape, and decoration, and ordered them to be fired for royal temples or XZ temples."

"In addition to being used as ritual implements in the palace's Buddhist temple, they were also awarded to inland temples and to Buddhist leaders in Tibet, Qinghai and other places. These porcelains even served as political tools."

"It was not until the Qianlong Emperor, as the power of the empire declined, that such behavior stopped."

"You mean, this is royal porcelain from your country hundreds of years ago?" Elizabeth had only thought that the bottle looked a little strange before. There was some visual conflict between the red, yellow and blue patterns on the neck and base of the bottle and the exquisite patterns on the body and mouth of the bottle. It turned out that they came from two cultures.

Now that Zhou Zhi has given it historical value, I suddenly feel that it looks a bit better this way.

Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Yes, and it is a very precious type. Firstly, compared with other porcelains, this type of porcelain is already rare. Secondly, as a cultural carrier, it carries more information than ordinary porcelain, so it is even more precious."

"Could it be a fake?" Elizabeth still found it hard to believe that the pair of "ornaments" her husband brought back from China decades ago could be so precious.

"The Benba bottle has a complex shape and requires a very high level of craftsmanship, making it extremely difficult to imitate," Zhou Zhi said. "Later, people found many Benba bottles in the Qing Dynasty palace that were repaired and then continued to be used, which is a clear proof."

"What does it prove?" Elizabeth was a complete layman and had no idea what Zhou Zhi meant.

"It proves that it was difficult for the dynasties after Qianlong to produce Benba vases of the same quality as those during the Qianlong period, so the dynasties after Jiaqing would rather use repaired Benba vases than re-fire new ones." "This is also the reason why there are very few imitations of Benba vases. There is a very interesting phenomenon in Chinese official porcelain, that is, the later dynasties would imitate the porcelain fired by the previous dynasties, and then write the previous dynasty's inscriptions on the bottom of the porcelain. This kind of 'ancient counterfeit' is the most difficult to identify in identification, much more difficult to identify than modern imitations."

"However, this Nandi is basically non-existent on the Benba bottle, because even during the reign of the last few emperors of the Qing Dynasty, it was difficult to see imitations of the Benba bottle."

"George, you look so young. Are you a high school student? How do you know so much about Chinese porcelain?"

“Hahaha…” Mai Xiaomiao couldn’t help but said, “Elbow is already a junior.”

"Oh." Elizabeth was surprised. "You Orientals often look very young, but even if he is a junior, George is still too young to identify ancient artifacts, right?"

"Although he is young, his level is top-notch." Mai Xiaomiao is happy to praise Zhou Zhi to others: "His identification and restoration of ancient Chinese artworks have been recognized by many experts, including experts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

"There is an unwritten rule in our country's ancient art market," Zhou Zhi said, "that is, even if it is a fake, the responsibility after the transaction lies with the buyer, because it is caused by the buyer's lack of vision, and the seller is not responsible."

"If Ms. Elizabeth is willing to transfer the pair of Bamba vases, I am willing to offer 15,000 US dollars." Zhou Zhi said, "This is also the normal purchase price that art shops can offer for this type of porcelain at present."

"Fifteen thousand dollars?" Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. If Zhou Zhi hadn't returned the bottle, she would have given away the fifteen thousand dollars today for only four dollars.

"Of course, we must admit that if we send this pair of items to an auction, if we meet a suitable buyer, we will definitely be able to get a certain premium." Zhou Zhi said sincerely, "But that is a long process. After deducting the commission and taxes, as well as the energy and time spent, it may not be more cost-effective than it is now."

Elizabeth asked, "George, if you had accepted the bottle when Martin handed it to you today, there wouldn't be all this going on. You could have easily gotten this pair of...artworks, and strictly speaking, there wouldn't be any procedural problems. Even if we knew about it later and wanted to take it back through litigation, we wouldn't get any legal support, right?"

"Ms. Elizabeth, the law is only the minimum standard to protect us from social punishment, not the upper limit. I think for every person with a moral conscience, he will naturally not accept his moral level staying near such a bottom line."

"I can't say that my moral standards are very high, but if I were to compete with an equally matched opponent in the flea market, I would definitely accept these two bottles."

"But facing two lovely children like Rose and Martin, I can't convince myself to do this." Zhou Zhi said: "This fifteen thousand dollars can at least solve their living expenses for a few months, right?" (End of this chapter)