Jianbao life

Chapter 265 Blue Glazed Pottery Figurines
Generally speaking, pottery is not very valuable in the antique market, and collections are also a niche category. This is because pottery is much simpler to make than porcelain.

The firing temperature of pottery is as low as 800°C or below, and the highest is only about 1100°C.The firing temperature of porcelain is relatively high, mostly above 1200°C, and some even reach about 1400°C.Moreover, the materials and workmanship of most pottery are not as exquisite as porcelain.

The combination of these factors makes even the pottery unearthed in the Neolithic Age generally not very popular, let alone the pottery of the later Qin and Han Dynasties.

But of course everything cannot be generalized. There are also high-quality pottery, such as the famous Tang Sancai pottery nearby, and the painted pottery from the Yangshao Culture, the black pottery from the Longshan Culture, etc., which are far away. .

The Majiayao culture is a local type of Yangshao culture that developed westward.

After the decline of the painted pottery of the Yangshao Culture in the Central Plains, the painted pottery of the Majiayao Culture continued to develop for hundreds of years, pushing the painted pottery culture to an unprecedented height.

The Majiayao culture is represented by painted pottery. Its shapes are rich and varied, and its patterns are extremely varied and colorful. It is an unparalleled spectacle in the history of the development of painted pottery in the world. It can be said that it is the most splendid culture created by ancient human ancestors. It is the pinnacle of the development of painted pottery art.

The painted pottery pot that Chu Chen is holding in his hand is a typical painted pottery style of the Majiayao culture.

This pot has a thin lip and an open mouth, a short neck, sloping shoulders, a pair of flat ring ears on both sides of the bulging belly, and a small flat bottom.The body of the pot is decorated with god-man patterns depicted in black colors. This pattern has a peculiar composition and is a typical decoration of the Majiayao culture. Against the background of orange-red pottery clothes, the contrast of colors is more intense.

In addition, there are some white substances on the body of the pot. These should be a kind of leather shell that was naturally formed because the painted pottery was buried underground for more than a thousand years.

This kind of skin will reappear even if it is cleaned repeatedly. Only by scraping it repeatedly with a sharp object, and then cleaning it with hydrochloric acid, can a satisfactory cleaning effect be achieved.

Of course, as long as it is a valuable antique, it will always be faked. Forgers of this kind of leather shell usually use diammonium, urea, chemical fertilizer or vinegar, which contains strong alkali in pesticides, and then mix it with water. After daily soaking, a similar condition of the skin will appear, but there is a pungent smell, while the real product has an earthy smell, which is not choking.

In addition, if you choose a damp area with strong alkalinity and bury the fake, this white powdery shell will appear after many days.However, using this kind of fake method, because the time is short, the etching is superficial, and it can be removed with a little cleaning.

Although he knew from Baojue that this painted pottery pot should be a real one, Chu Chen still went up to smell it, and it turned out to be a normal earthy smell, and he scratched it lightly with his fingernails, which was indeed the characteristic of the real thing.

Then Chu Chen observed it carefully again, and confirmed that this thing should be a genuine product from Majia Kiln, and judging from its appearance, it can be said to be a relatively rare fine product.

A piece of painted pottery that he picked up casually turned out to be a high-quality goods, which made Chu Chen very happy, and also allowed him to clear away some of the haze in his heart.In this way, the desire to buy in his heart was also raised.

However, after putting down the painted pottery in his hand, Chu Chen took a cursory look at the things on the stall, but was speechless for a while. Most of these things were fakes, and some were simply fabricated.

Let’s just talk about the other pieces of Majiayao painted pottery here, which look smooth and hard, with a neat and regular appearance, and they are fakes at a glance.

You must know that the Majiayao culture is still in the Neolithic Age, and the production tools are still very simple, limited by hand-made or slow-wheel manufacturing. The thickness of the pottery is uneven, and the shape of the pottery is often irregular. Convex, concave deformation or overall outward tilt phenomenon.

No matter how exquisitely it was done at that time, this phenomenon would only be less obvious. If you look closely, you can still see it. How could it be like the performance in front of you?

Chu Chen shook his head secretly, and looked at the fakes of Majiayao painted pottery pretendingly, then pointed to one of the fakes and asked the stall owner, "Boss, how much is the painted pottery of Majiayao?"

The stall owner smiled honestly, gave Chu Chen a thumbs up, and said, "Boss, you have really good eyesight. I got this from an old lady. Not only is the workmanship very exquisite, it is also an old thing thousands of years ago. Think about it, how difficult it is to keep thousands of them so well..."

Seeing that the stall owner was still going on, Chu Chen quickly said, "Boss, I know what you're talking about, please give me a quick word! How much is this thing?"

The stall owner smiled Mimi and said, "I have a relationship with you, the boss. I'll give you a little cheaper. How about 5000 yuan? It's only one yuan a year, which is very good value."

When Chu Chen heard this, he sneered in his heart. If the thing is real, even five thousand is not expensive, but yours is so fake that it can’t be more fake.

He pretended to frown and thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "It's too expensive, what about this one?" He pointed to a smaller clay pot beside him.

"That, four thousand!"

Next, Chu Chen asked a few more painted pottery, and the stall owner who asked was a little impatient, so he pointed to the genuine one and asked, "What about this one?"

"Hey, brother, do you want to buy it or not?" the stall owner asked with a frown.

Chu Chen said: "Buy it, but the price you are asking is so expensive, boss, I can't afford it!"

Hearing what he said, the stall owner couldn't help laughing and crying. This is not a one-buy price, won't you pay back the price? Come on, this is a novice, but only when you meet such a novice can you make money!
Thinking of this, he pretended to be displeased and said, "This is two thousand!"

Chu Chen pretended to be surprised and said, "Ah! This kind of crooked melon and cracked dates cost two thousand! Can it be cheaper!"

"Then how much can you pay?"

Chu Chen thought for a while, then said weakly, "Four hundred?"

"Four hundred!"

The stall owner yelled, pretending to be a little angry and said: "I said brother, you are too cruel, I can't even get four hundred, just buy it now, one thousand and two, if you want it, don't forget it! "

The stall owner has been in business for a long time, and he knows that as long as he keeps his mouth shut when dealing with this kind of newcomer, he will definitely buy it.

Sure enough, seeing Chu Chen's hesitant expression, he thought about it and agreed.This made him immediately happy. The goods purchased for 200 yuan changed hands and he made [-] yuan. The living expenses of these two months have been settled. Sure enough, the money from the antique business came quickly!

But he didn't know that Chu Chen was also full of joy at this time, how could he not be filled with joy when he bought something worth [-] for [-]?
After completing the transaction, Chu Chen looked at this guy who was about [-] centimeters tall and felt a little worried. Although this thing was not heavy, it was not difficult to hold it, but after all, the surface was dirty, so it was a little inconvenient to hold it in the cup.

"Boss, is there anything you can let me pretend?"

The stall owner was in a good mood after completing the deal. He glanced at the clay pot, then stood up, took out two black plastic bags from the box under his buttocks, and handed them to Chu Chen, saying: " Here it is, it should be fine to use this cover for two layers.”

After thanking Chu Chen, he asked with a naive smile, "Boss, I saw two terracotta figurines in your box just now, can you show me some of them?"

The stall owner was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and then smiled and said: "Brother, your eyes are really good, okay, I'll show you!" Then, he took the two pottery figurines out of the box came out, and handed it to Chu Chen.

However, Chu Chen did not pick it up, but pointed to the ground with a smile, which made the stall owner react immediately, and while putting the pottery figurines on his booth, he smiled awkwardly: "Haha, I'm really sorry, I'm used to it. Already!"

Chu Chen waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's all right! I was scolded a few times by others before I remembered this rule."

In fact, Chu Chen also knew after the trial when he bought painted pottery just now that the stall owner's level should not be very good. Looking at his performance now, Chu Chen guessed that this person should not have been in this business for too long.Of course, this is a good thing for Chu Chen, otherwise, where would he find something easy to pick up?

Chu Chen bent down and took the two pottery figurines into his hands. After careful observation, he immediately confirmed his previous guess. These two pottery figurines were blue-glazed pottery figurines that were very precious in Tang Sancai.

Tang Sancai is based on the combination of green glaze and yellow glaze pottery since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the introduction of Persian blue glaze technology to create and fire. Among them, blue glaze is the most precious, which is often called "three-color precious blue".

The reason why the blue-glazed tri-color glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty is called the best Tang tri-color glazed pottery is very special.It is said that in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the blue glaze was purchased or exchanged at equivalent value by foreign trade envoys sent by the Tang Dynasty government from the Persian area with heavy gold or tea, silk, and ancient ceramics.

In the Tang Dynasty, when the hierarchical system was very strict, those who could enjoy this kind of glaze as three-color Mingware were either famous nobles or high-ranking officials.Those who can enjoy large-scale blue tricolor glazed pottery as Ming objects are either relatives of the emperor or important ministers of the prime minister.

It is conceivable how precious the three-color glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty was produced and fired with blue colored glaze as the main color.Whether it is its historical value, artistic value, or economic value and rarity, it can be said to be top-notch.

However, in the current reality, blue-glazed three-color glazed pottery is indeed rare among Tang Dynasty three-color glazed pottery collected in museums and private collections all over the world.Such large blue-glazed Tang Dynasty three-color glazed pottery is even rarer, like looking for a needle in a haystack.

(End of this chapter)