Chapter 284 Guests and Host Enjoy Themselves

This one is faster.

Drilling, tenoning, applying glue, bonding, silvering, glazing, baking... all in less than half an hour.

It was a skill that existed only in ancient books and was almost lost, but in Lin Sicheng's hands, it was both extremely casual and extremely exquisite.

He was like a peerless swordsman from a martial arts novel, wielding not a drill, hammer, or knife, but a celestial sword. Every move was perfectly timed, exquisitely subtle, and every technique a feast for the eyes.

The plate was placed on the table, and compared to before the repair, it didn't seem too difficult: it was just glued together, two nails were used to mend the broken ends, and two pieces of silver foil were wrapped around it.

But only those who truly understand it know how difficult it is.

Drill holes in the one-millimeter-thick ceramic slag and insert mortise and tenon joints, just like repairing furniture, to give it sufficient tensile strength.

Furthermore, the repaired glaze should be indistinguishable from the original glaze, creating a seamless whole.

At first glance, it seems quite simple. But here's one thing: the gap at the break is not just plain white glaze, but rather a transition from the light blue of the lake water to the white glaze.

The key difficulty lies in the fact that the color presented during the repainting process is vastly different from the color after low-temperature baking in the oven.

How meticulous must one be in controlling aspects such as the fusion characteristics of pigments, the changes in glaze formation during heating, and the kiln temperature to restore a piece to the point where the difference is indistinguishable to the naked eye?

If it weren't for the nails on both ends, the silver foil, and the deliberate crease left, who would be able to tell that this plate was damaged and then repaired?

To everyone's surprise, the celadon-glazed covered jar and the celadon-glazed jar also came out of the kiln.

Everyone recalled the scene before the repair, and their expressions became increasingly strange: they remembered that the jar was not broken this much back then, only seven or eight pieces.

But why did it break like this after being repaired, with more than ten or twenty pieces?

Because patching the existing cracks wouldn't look good, Lin Sicheng added several more layers of gold leaf.

I just made a few minor changes, but the finished product looks like a work of art.

Looking at the bowl lid again, although it was only cracked into four pieces, there were two holes in the middle, big enough to fit a finger. After it was repaired, it gave the impression that the object was originally designed this way?

Seeing Lin Sicheng fiddling with the blue and white porcelain plate as if nothing had happened, Zhang Jindong finally understood why someone as arrogant as Wang Qizhi could lower himself and do everything in his power to promote and build momentum for Lin Sicheng.

The staff finally understood why, even though they had never met Lin Sicheng, Minister Zhang spoke so highly of him and gave him advice on several occasions.

Because this kid is really capable.

Leaving aside the pastel plate and the mortise and tenon repair, let's just talk about the last two pieces: for anyone who can be called a ceramic restorer, gilding and gold repair are essential skills.

So for these people, the difficulty is not whether they know how to repair or fix it, but whether the repaired item is aesthetically pleasing and artistic.

These two pieces, if we only consider aesthetics and appreciation, seem to look better than before they were broken.

That's what you call skill!

With a sigh, Lin Sicheng had already assembled the main body of the blue and white porcelain cup and placed it into an electric kiln for micro-drying.

Before we knew it, it was already 8 p.m.

Zhang Jindong had originally booked a dinner party, but Wang Qizhi declined, saying that blue and white porcelain is difficult to repair and Lin Sicheng needs to rest well and recharge.

After a quick working lunch, some went home, and others went back to their hotels. The next day, Lin Sicheng arrived at Prince Gong's Mansion at exactly eight o'clock.

There were even more visitors today, filling the huge restoration room with layers upon layers of people.

There was no time for pleasantries. Lin Sicheng simply nodded in acknowledgment, changed his clothes, and went up to the repair table.

Yesterday, we only pieced together the main body of the blue and white porcelain cup. There were still many minor defects and it was broken, mostly with tiny holes the size of rice grains or even smaller.

However, the filling step is relatively simple, and Lin Sicheng proceeds unhurriedly: mix the glue, fill the holes, lightly bake, and polish.

Next comes the main event: repairing the base glaze and adding blue and white decorations.

Restoring blue and white porcelain is the most challenging aspect of all porcelain types and restoration techniques.

Because a second high temperature will cause a qualitative change in the glaze of the original piece, which is commonly known as ruining it after one firing, it is impossible to repair it by replicating the original glaze formula, the original firing process and the temperature control process.

The glaze must be re-adjusted, and the temperature of the second firing must be controlled within an extremely precise range. Local temperature restriction must even be ensured to maintain consistency with the original piece in terms of cobalt blue color, underglaze layering, glaze transmittance, light refraction, and so on.

More importantly, the chemical properties of cobalt material are extremely unstable under high temperature conditions. Even a slight increase or decrease in oxygen, a pH value that is 0.5 higher or lower, or even a one percent difference in the aluminum, silicon, and calcium content in the glaze formula can lead to serious color differences.

As Wang Qizhi often says: "The difficulty of restoring blue and white porcelain is no less than being given a small pistol but required to achieve the power of a missile explosion."

It's not that exaggerated, but it's definitely not easy to fix.

Since it was not easy, there was no need to rush. Lin Sicheng proceeded methodically: preparing the glaze, conducting trial firings, recording data, removing the glaze from the kiln, setting the parameters for each step of the process, and refiring.

Then match, try, modify, and adjust again.

Again and again, the process was incredibly tedious, but the number of people in the restoration room didn't decrease; in fact, it increased significantly.

Moreover, they are extremely quiet, trying their best not to make any noise whether they are eating, going out, or using the toilet.

This continued until 10 p.m.

When Lin Sicheng opened the furnace door and took out the blue and white porcelain cup, everyone crowded forward.

Then, as if a pause button had been pressed, the repair room became eerily quiet.

Wang Qizhi's eyelids twitched, and the two General Managers Zhao, Zhao Da and Zhao Er, along with Xiao Yuzhu, all felt a sudden panic:

Was it ruined by repair?

Otherwise, why is no one speaking up?

After craning their necks and taking a couple of peeks, the six of them all breathed a sigh of relief.

Not only was it not repaired, but it was repaired exceptionally well.

A group of museum staff stared silently at the repaired cup, their minds replaying its appearance before the repair:

I remember it was broken into twenty or thirty pieces, and not just any ordinary pieces, but nearly half of the fragments were only the size of a grain of rice. After the main body was put back together, there were more than a dozen holes missing in the middle, and most of them were in the areas with blue and white patterns.

Looking at the repaired cup again: there is no color difference, no polarization, and no distortion of the cobalt blue color due to inconsistent thickness of the underglaze layers.

You can't even tell it's a restored piece without using a magnifying glass.

Zhang Jindong had already seen the video of Lin Sicheng restoring the Chenghua jar, but watching the video did not give him the same sense of awe as witnessing the whole process firsthand and the contrast between the jar before and after restoration.

Without comparison, there is no difference: Zhao Xiuneng was a genuine descendant of a court craftsman, and his skill level was undeniably high. But why are there such wide and obvious gaps in the middle of the blue-and-white porcelain bowl and the Western Han Dynasty figure cup that he repaired?

Because both of them are polychrome porcelain, they cannot be repaired using techniques such as gilding or gold repair, otherwise it would be no different from ruining them.

However, Zhao Xiuneng could not achieve the same effect as the cup in front of him: the color of the pattern at the touch-up point was completely consistent with the light and visual feel of the adjacent glaze.

All he could do was piece it together.

Moreover, it's not just Zhao Xiuneng; apart from the Palace Museum, Jingdezhen, and a handful of ancient ceramic research institutions and museums, the number of people in the private sector who can repair blue and white porcelain can be counted on one hand.

Which one of them didn't learn from a famous master, have lived more than half a lifetime, and have accumulated experience and knowledge over the past half a lifetime?

And who else dares to confidently say: that it only takes a day and a half to repair four pieces of tribute porcelain, including a famille rose plate and a blue and white cup?

I estimate that even three a day and a half might not be enough.

Therefore, looking at Lin Sicheng's face again feels extremely unreal.

Just as he was reflecting on this, he heard the sound of things being packed up, and Zhang Jindong suddenly came back to his senses. Then, he looked at the four pieces of porcelain on the table, and hesitated to speak.

Lin Sicheng could roughly guess what he was thinking: nothing more than that he was making up for it too quickly.

At a normal pace, even Lin Sicheng would need five to seven days to finish the repairs, but the visiting groups from the Academy of Arts & Design and the Palace Museum would arrive at the school in three days.

With limited time, Lin Sicheng had to resort to desperate measures: such as borneol and dragon's blood powder, which many staff members found inexplicable.

The former contains borneol, and the latter contains natural resin. When mixed with special powder and glue, the assembled pieces do not need to be air-dried to solidify naturally; they can be directly baked in an electric kiln at a low temperature.

This province is 48 hours.

The glaze ratio is even more exquisite: ordinary blue and white porcelain, after being glazed and refired, cannot exceed 300 degrees Celsius, can only be baked at a low temperature, and needs to be fired for three days, otherwise the color will turn gray.

The glaze he prepared wouldn't change its quality even at 600 degrees Celsius. It seemed like only 300 degrees higher, but the glaze repair and firing only took two hours. This process took another three days.

But these are all top-secret techniques, not to be revealed casually. Zhang Jindong knew this too, and automatically changed the subject:

"Teacher Lin, I've booked a table at the hotel next door. I'll be back late, but I absolutely have to have this meal."

He definitely had to eat; in the afternoon, he took two bites of bread.

"No alcohol, that's fine!" Lin Sicheng smiled, then pointed to the four dishes on the table. "I'll have to trouble Minister Zhang. If the leader isn't entirely satisfied after reviewing them, please let me know so we can learn from them and make further improvements..."

How could I not be satisfied?

If it weren't so late, he'd probably already be asleep. Otherwise, Zhang Jindong would definitely have called his superiors back and signed the contract on the spot.

He nodded solemnly: "Teacher Lin, I'll have to trouble you again tomorrow morning!"

Zhang Jindong felt that regardless of when Lin Sicheng could free up his time, the contract had to be signed first.

It wasn't that he was in a hurry, but rather that he had enough confidence in Lin Sicheng's skills and, more importantly, that he respected both parties in the collaboration.

As for whether the damaged artifacts will be transported to Xi'an or whether Lin Sicheng will come regularly to replace a few pieces when he has time, we'll discuss that later.

"Minister Zhang, that's fine!"

Lin Sicheng nodded, "But can we make a deal? Minister Zhang, as you know, I've been quite busy lately, so please try not to set the quantity too high, and don't set the construction period too short, or even be more flexible... As for the cost, just give me the cost price!"

Zhang Jindong exclaimed "Ah!"

This is a pure seller's market. He was already satisfied that Lin Sicheng agreed to cooperate, so he never even thought about setting a deadline or a number of tasks for Lin Sicheng.

As for the cost, looking at these items on the table, even if they were twice as expensive as Zhao Xiuneng's asking price, he would be willing to pay.

But Lin Sicheng said: Just give me the cost price?

Seeing Zhang Jindong's stunned expression, Lin Sicheng smiled:

"Minister Zhang, there are many first-class museums in China, but there are only a few that can take intangible cultural heritage as their core, dynamic inheritance as their main body, and comprehensively reflect ancient political ethics, ancient construction techniques, and science and technology!"

"When the day comes that the center's restored cultural relics are displayed in the Prince Gong's Mansion exhibition hall, their influence and popularity will spread like wildfire. At that time, will we still have to worry about not making money?"

This isn't flattery, it's the truth. Lin Sicheng never intended to make money from exhibition agencies.

So it's not just this one museum; from now on, all museums we cooperate with will be charged at cost price.

The reason is simple: museums are comprehensive exhibition institutions, and they cannot only exhibit porcelain. Even if they do exhibit porcelain, they will mainly feature complete pieces.

The proportion of repaired items on display will be very small, probably only a few or ten pieces a year. How much money can be made from that?

But it's different in the general public: items like these on the table, when broken, wouldn't fetch more than a few hundred yuan. But after being repaired, they'd be worth at least tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Don't doubt it, imperial porcelain is worth this price. Even after being repaired, the damaged piece is still imperial porcelain.

Charging 20% ​​for craftsmanship is a fair price. For example, Zhao Xiuxian's Baishanzhai charges at least 30%, otherwise the two brothers wouldn't have made a fortune of hundreds of millions.

The key point is that Baishanzhai's reputation and influence are limited to the private collection community. How much of the revenue should be taken from someone like Lin Sicheng, who can cooperate with a first-class museum and specializes in restoring Qing Dynasty imperial porcelain?

No other major museum has such a large influence yet such a severe shortage of artifacts as the Prince Gong's Mansion. Therefore, this is a powerful advertisement; to gain a foothold in Beijing, this is the first shot that must be fired…

In a flash, Lin Sicheng pointed to Zhao Xiuxian and Zhao Xiuneng beside him, "There are many things to do in Xi'an, and we will also be going to other famous kilns to learn from them, so we can only entrust things in Beijing to Senior Brother Zhao and General Manager Zhao. If you need any help in the future, Minister Zhang, you can contact them directly..."

Zhang Jindong expressed his gratitude profusely and exchanged phone numbers with the two brothers.

After saving the number, Zhao Xiuneng glanced at the second son.

Zhao Xiuxian smiled awkwardly, then sighed inwardly: "I was worrying for nothing, judging a gentleman by my own petty standards!"

After quickly getting ready, the group arrived at the hotel.

Zhang Jindong and his entourage were extremely hospitable. Lin Sicheng, as usual, did not drink, but Wang Qizhi and the two General Managers Zhao drank their glasses dry.

Wang Qizhi couldn't stop laughing all night.

Just think about how much face his students made for him during this trip to Beijing.

Before long, news that Lin Sicheng had repaired four pieces of tribute porcelain for the Prince Gong's Mansion would spread like wildfire.

Leaving aside the two items mentioned earlier, just consider the famille rose plate and the blue cup. They only took less than two days to make. What does that mean?

An auction in Xiling has once again drawn the attention of many established experts.

Does Shan Guoqiang count? Does Lü Chenglong count? Does Yu Zhiyuan from the Academy of Arts count? And does Zhang Jindong, who is currently urging others to drink with a wine dispenser, count?

Not to mention the amazing lecture at the Institute for Cultural Heritage.

Who among those sitting below wasn't a leading figure in the field of archaeology?

Regardless of who taught them these skills, just ask whether Lin Sicheng was Wang Qizhi's student.

Who will dare to say that Wang Qizhi is just bragging all day long?

Compared to them, Zhao Xiuneng and Zhao Xiuxian were even better.

Because they were even more convinced that Lin Sicheng was a powerful, valuable, and long-lasting asset.

But with different statuses and roles, the two brothers could only secretly rejoice.

And so, the banquet concluded, and both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely…