Chapter 514 Experts come to identify
Bai Wenzhe made a phone call and within an hour, more than 20 old experts with white hair came.
Zhan Shaoyuan, the former director of Dongguan Museum, led the team here in person.
It can be said that these more than 20 people are all leading figures in the southern antique and curio circles. More importantly, this group of people belongs to the system, so the meaning they represent is different.
If it were another collector, he would definitely not allow these old men and women to come for appraisal.
This is because once it is determined that there are national treasures in the collection, but their origins cannot be explained or their inheritance is unclear, then the final ownership of these antiques is difficult to determine.
Believe it or not, someone can forcibly take away your cultural relics for 500 yuan and a certificate of advanced individual status.
You don't want to? How about giving you a sewing machine?
Therefore, for normal antique appraisal, even if you find experts within the system, they are here as private individuals to earn extra money and have to sign a confidentiality agreement.
But Lin Sanqi was not afraid.
Don’t even mention that you are an expert from the Dongguan Provincial Museum. It doesn’t matter even if you are an expert from the Palace Museum. He has “legal procedures” anyway. He has the purchase invoice from the cultural relics store, the collection certificate, and the exit certificate.
It is stamped with a bright red official seal. Unless you change the dynasty, if it is still ruled by the XX Party, you have to accept it.
If you want to be a rogue and collect the tax by force, that's fine. Just bring the money and we can give you a discount.
But if you want to take it away for free, I'm sorry, this loophole cannot be opened. Lin Sanqi can just burn it all in a fire, and no one will take it.
There must be rules for everything!
Of course, experts within the system are not necessarily reliable. If someone takes away Lin Sanqi's authentic works, who knows whether the antiques stored in the museum are real or fake? It will be difficult to trace them after they have passed through several hands.
This has precedent in Dongguan Province.
Xiao Yuan, director of the Huadu Academy of Fine Arts Library, swapped 143 national treasures of calligraphy and paintings in the library over the years. All the originals ended up in his own hands, and all those left in the warehouse were fakes.
This is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Only God knows how many museum collections have been swapped.
To use a joke from the collecting community: Every piece from the Forbidden City is mine, nothing from the Forbidden City is with me, everything in the Forbidden City is fake and everything I own is real.
How ironic!
Zhan Shaoyuan held Lin Musen's hand:
"Doctor Lin, nice to meet you. I've long heard of you. I'm Zhan Shaoyuan from the Provincial Museum. These are all my colleagues. I apologize for disturbing you."
Although his hands were clenched, Zhan Shaoyuan's eyes were always looking at the antiques beside him.
Lin Musen is the elder and the boss of Lingnantang Chinese Medicine Clinic. Zhan Shaoyuan naturally thinks that Lin Musen is the one who really makes the decision, and Lin Sanqi is ignored.
Lin Musen also said politely, "Hello, Mr. Zhan."
Zhan Shaoyuan resisted the urge to rush into the antique pile and said in a perfunctory manner:
"Doctor Lin, your family is truly amazing, with so many antiques. Let's not even talk about anything else, but this large blue and white vat with nine dragon patterns next to us. If it's real, it's a national treasure, priceless."
Lin Musen didn't know much about antiques. He took a look at the big vat next to him. Originally, he thought that the calligraphy and paintings in the vat were valuable. But after all, he found out that the vat itself was a national treasure?
“No, no, these are all handed down from our ancestors. I don’t know how precious they are, but as their descendants, I naturally have to keep them well and dare not dispose of them lightly, so they have been kept until now.
There are also quite a few antiques that my father bought from antique shops back then, this…"
Lin Sanqi immediately took a book that looked like a photo album like a lackey, opened it, and introduced it:
"Mr. Zhan, these are the invoices from when I bought the antiques, this is the collection certificate, and there's also the departure certificate. We have the complete set."
Zhan Shaoyuan naturally had some questions and thoughts in his mind. At this time, he took the invoice book and took a magnifying glass to study it carefully.
Zhan Shaoyuan is over 80 years old. He was the general manager of Huadu Cultural Relics Store back then, so he is not unfamiliar with this full set of invoices and certificates. They were printed uniformly by the state back then, and there were hidden anti-counterfeiting marks inside.
The invoice was written with the name of Lin Sanqi's deceased grandfather. He wrote it himself, so there could be no mistake.
These invoices have been aged by Old Man Tang, and since the originals are genuine, they are naturally flawless.
Sure enough, Zhan Shaoyuan closed the booklet and nodded slightly:
"There's nothing wrong with the invoice. It's indeed from the antique shop back then. Doctor Lin, I have to say your father had a great eye. The antiques he bought for tens or hundreds of yuan back then are now worth tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions."
Lin Sanqi knew the old man must have been testing the waters. After all, who in China had that kind of money back then? Antique shops only accepted foreign currency.
"Mr. Zhan, you may not know that our Lin family in Shilou Village was once the owner of a Chinese medicine store in one of the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. Later, we had countless relatives in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and even overseas.
Several of my grandfather's brothers are living overseas. Although they have settled there, they send back a lot of foreign currency every year. My grandfather likes antiques, so he saves the foreign currency and goes to antique shops.
We visited cultural relics shops in Peking, Shanghai, and Tianjin, and left a valuable legacy for our descendants.
Unfortunately, our descendants are not worthy. I acquired the Southern Pharmaceutical Factory, but ended up suffering heavy losses. I had to sell some antiques to pay off my debts, and that's when I invited Sotheby's to auction it. I'm so ashamed."
The antique and curio business already operates in a gray area. Lin Sanqi and Lin Musen's words were half true and half false, and Zhan Shaoyuan knew that he couldn't believe them completely.
But now they have legal proof, so Zhan Shaoyuan can't say much. If he says too much, it will easily make people annoyed. After all, they are uninvited.
"Doctor Lin, haha, as long as there is legal proof, we can rest assured."
Huang Delai, the deputy general manager of Sotheby's, also politely accepted the invoice booklet, feeling even happier:
"If you can provide proof of legal collection, Mr. Lin, don't worry, we at Sotheby's will definitely give you a satisfactory price."
Having proof of legal collection is indeed a benefit to the auction house, because it means they can exhibit the works openly and in advance.
Before the official auction, the auction house will arrange in advance for wealthy celebrities from all over the world to come and appreciate the works, so that these wealthy people can be mentally prepared to decide which one they like and then prepare the money.
This will increase the reputation and status of the auction house, attract widespread media attention, and increase the final auction price.
If the auction items are illegal, then this kind of appreciation meeting can only be carried out in secret, not many wealthy people will be invited, the influence will be small, and the final transaction volume will often be relatively low.
Zhan Shaoyuan could still bear it and even said a few polite words, but the other old experts had no scruples and began to observe with their eyes one by one.
At this time, an old man exclaimed:
"Oh my god, these are all royal furniture, how did they get out? Damn those people in the Forbidden City back then."
The person who made the call was Jie Ying, an expert in identifying Ming and Qing furniture. His voice quickly attracted a group of experts to gather around.
Jie Ying was still cursing excitedly with his colleagues:
"Look, this large huanghuali wood chest of drawers with phoenix and peony patterns was once used by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. It was placed in his bedroom back then, and this is all documented.
And this one, this is a large four-piece cabinet made of rosewood and carved with nine dragon patterns from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It was also used exclusively by the emperor and was not available anywhere else except in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Was it also sold?
And this big chair, a golden nanmu throne carved with eight treasures, cloud and bat patterns, water waves, and dragons. Look, there are nine five-clawed dragons on it. Wait, could this be the dragon throne that disappeared from the Hall of Supreme Harmony? Oh my god, I sold this too?"
Another expert consoled him, "Don't worry, Lao Jie. What era can you identify this dragon throne as?"
Jie Ying leaned on the dragon throne, holding a flashlight and a magnifying glass, his hands shaking:
"This is from the Ming Dynasty. Oh, there's inscription on the back. It was made by the emperor during the Jiajing reign. Oh my god, look, there are the words 'Fengtian' right in the middle. This is the dragon throne from the Fengtian Hall."
Lin Sanqi was a little surprised and said softly:
"Some experts have previously suggested that this dragon throne might be the one lost in the Forbidden City, but that one was in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and this one is in the Hall of Envoyment, so they don't match."
Zhan Shaoyuan beside him was speechless, but at the same time he excitedly introduced:
"The Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Qing Dynasty is the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Ming Dynasty. Great, great! If this dragon throne is real, then it is a national treasure, a priceless treasure."
Lin Sanqi was a little puzzled as to why the people who kept the warehouse for the Forbidden City didn't see the word "Fengtian", but he knew that this dragon throne would start at hundreds of millions at auction, and he would make a fortune.
Over here in the furniture section, people are making a lot of noise and discovering a national treasure.
(End of this chapter)
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