Chapter 109 Willing to buy anything?
"Sister Anning, you go to the office first, I'll be right there!"
"Xiao Yuzhu, go make some tea!"
As they were making arrangements, the woman waved her hand: "No need, this place is fine!"
As he spoke, he stepped inside, staring at the two bowls on the table with a gleam in his eyes: "Hello, may I take a look?"
What's wrong with watching this?
Lin Sicheng nodded: "Of course!"
"Thanks!"
The woman nodded and took out her glasses from her bag. After putting them on, she stared intently at the two bowls, her face showing deep appreciation.
"pretty……"
"It's so beautiful..."
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment: "I feel that this person's aesthetic sense is comparable to Xiao Yuzhu's."
The gold-sprinkled bowl is fine; it's already finished, painted and gilded, and the visual effect is indeed quite good.
The other one was only half-painted and hadn't been finished; the colors of several leaves weren't evenly mixed. The cracks weren't repaired at all, and there were even two gaps on the rim of the bowl.
In any case, Lin Sicheng felt that it had nothing to do with "beautiful".
After glancing at it twice, Li Zhen handed over a towel, which Lin Sicheng took and wiped himself down: "Sister Anning, please sit down first, I'll go wash up!"
Ye Anning nodded, and then slowly looked him over.
The studio is 200 square meters, but only half of it is currently in use, with the other half empty. Even so, it still feels quite spacious.
It was very clean, with the few machines polished to a shine. The walls were white, and green plants filled the windows and wooden shelves; there was no smell of paint.
Thinking about it again, the machine must have only arrived a little over a week ago. Lin Sicheng has been busy planning the project and designing reports with his uncle, so he definitely hasn't had time to manage it.
Those are the other two.
She had met Li Zhen before, and the impression was still deep: very beautiful, with a gentle demeanor and a touch of scholarly refinement. She was also very efficient: on the lab bench, she and Lin Sicheng seemed to work together extremely well.
The other one was slightly younger, about the same age as Lin Sicheng, with bright, intelligent eyes. But he seemed more playful.
So, for this place to be so tidy, Teacher Li must have worked hard for several days...
In a flash, Xiao Yuzhu brought over some tea. Ye Anning said thank you, took the tea, and sipped it.
Xiao Yuzhu smiled, her eyes brightening: So beautiful?
Her skin is so soft and fair, her smile is beautiful, and her hair is as shiny as satin.
She was taller, and her legs were straighter and longer than her life.
Lin Sicheng left the cubicle, his eyes fixed on the scene.
Hearing the noise, the woman straightened up, glanced around, and then her gaze landed on Lin Sicheng's face.
When she arrived, Ye Anning said that the person they had invited today was a bit young, and then reminded her that this person had a very high level of connoisseurship and an even higher level of cultural relic restoration.
Bai Wan even joked: How tall is it?
Now I know...
She secretly admired him and extended her hand: "Lin, my name is Bai Wan. I'm here in Xi'an for tourism and happened to buy two things. I don't know anyone here, so I was wondering if Anning could ask someone to help me take a look... Thank you!"
You're too kind!
Lin Sicheng clenched his fist: "What exactly is it?"
"Gold jewelry!"
Bai Wan replied, then looked down and opened her bag.
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment and looked at Ye Anning.
Ye Anning smiled, nodded slightly, and then shook her head gently.
Lin Sicheng suddenly understood.
He asked: An expert?
Ye Anning: I know a little bit, but I'm basically still a novice.
Therefore, Lin Sicheng had to admire him.
The reason is simple: gold jewelry is expensive, especially antiques; even a small piece can cost tens of thousands of yuan.
Of course, the compensation is also tens of thousands...
While pondering, Bai Wan took out two small boxes, about the size of a palm. Although they weren't antiques, they were carved in a very simple and rustic style.
He gently opened it and pushed it forward, and a golden light shone on Lin Sicheng's face.
He narrowed his eyes: a gold bracelet wrapped around the arm?
At first glance, it looks like a spring:
Five concentric rings, one inside the other, are interlocked and overlapped, with the gold rings being of uniform thickness and diameter.
The outer ring is engraved with the twelve zodiac animals, arranged in order, gradually narrowing at the beginning and end of the ring, without any ornamentation. Overall, it is both beautiful and simple.
The poem "A Poem of Betrothal" from the late Han Dynasty's Yuefu (a collection of folk songs) says: "How can I express my deep affection? With two golden rings tied around my arm..." This is what it refers to.
The three gold items used in Song Dynasty weddings—gold bracelets, gold ornaments, and gold pendants—also refer to this.
However, this style is actually an imported product: it originated from the worship of "snakes" in the Bronze Age of Eurasia, and flowed into the Western Regions from the Warring States period to the Han Dynasty, gradually becoming Sinicized, and the craftsmanship became more and more complicated.
Look at this one: it was cast into a blank, hammered into shape, spiraled, engraved with patterns, and inlaid with gilding... It actually has three of the eight arts of gold crafts in the Tang Dynasty?
Moreover, it is very well-made: the gold ring is convex on the outside and flat on the inside, smooth as a mirror, without any trace of residue... It is a typical example of the moldless hammering technique originating from the Tang Dynasty.
Looking at the engraving: the patterns vary in depth, including hook engraving, pick engraving, sand engraving, and the more refined and difficult openwork carving technique.
Looking at the gilded layer again: it's less than 0.1 millimeters thick, and it's even and strong enough... It's definitely the Tang Dynasty's gold amalgam technique.
It's not that it wasn't passed down, but rather that the process was too complex and the toxicity too great, so not many people knew how to do it.
Although there are some imperfections, this gold ring is definitely handmade. After examining it for so long, Lin Sicheng found no trace of machine intervention.
Even gilding uses the most primitive chemical materials.
More importantly, it's old enough: although the gold ring is shiny, its color is slightly darker, somewhat like natural aging. If you calculate the time, it seems just right: gold is an inert metal, and it's impossible for it to change color to this extent in less than a thousand years.
So at first glance, it really does look like an object from the Tang Dynasty's Shaofujian or Jinyin Workshop, or to put it bluntly: a Tang Dynasty imperial artifact.
But Lin Sicheng had a gut feeling that it was unlikely: such an object might be found in the Forbidden City or the National Museum of China. It might even be buried deep in the tomb of some Tang Dynasty emperor, empress, prince, or princess; it simply couldn't possibly be here.
It's unlikely you could just casually come on a trip and find it; the odds of winning five million with two dollars are probably higher.
After glancing around briefly, Lin Sicheng stretched out his hand.
The same three items: a high-powered scope, a powerful flashlight, and gloves. Li Zhen handed them to him one by one.
Then he looked closely, and the more he looked, the brighter Lin Sicheng's eyes became.
Ye Anning blinked: Surely this thing isn't real?
Just as he was wondering, Lin Sicheng suddenly asked, "How much did you buy it for?"
Bai Wan was taken aback: "Twenty-five thousand!"
Sure enough?
If it's true, you couldn't buy it even for 25 million, let alone 25,000.
Because this thing is already at the level of a national treasure.
If it's fake, you'll definitely lose a lot of money.
In 2007, the price of gold was around 140 yuan. This ring looks quite long, but it only weighs about 50 or 60 grams. Even if the entire ring were made of pure gold, it would only be worth 7,000 or 8,000 yuan.
Moreover, gold only accounts for a small portion.
After watching for about ten minutes, Lin Sicheng looked up and took off his gloves: "Teacher Bai, you need to be prepared!"
Bai Wan's heart skipped a beat, but she forced a smile and said, "Okay!"
"First, let's talk about the craftsmanship: moldless hammering, layered chiseling, openwork carving, gold amalgam... all of which meet the requirements of the Eight Arts of True Gold in the Tang Dynasty, and without the aid of any modern machines or chemical agents..."
Bai Wan perked up a little: "But what?"
Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "But it's a modern imitation!"
"Huh?" Bai Wan was taken aback, then pointed at the gold ring. "But the gold is rather dark; it looks like it's aged naturally."
"Because it was made to look old according to the natural aging process!"
Lin Sicheng asked for a cotton swab and explained as he wiped the gold artifacts, "The reason why gold artifacts age is because ancient craftsmen would add copper and silver to the gold to increase its hardness and luster, melting it down into a gold-copper-silver alloy, which is what the ancients called 'pure gold'..."
"However, copper contains lead, which forms lead sulfide when exposed to air for a long time. Silver does the same, forming silver sulfide... and sulfides are among the few common chemical substances that can oxidize and tarnish gold..."
Lin Sicheng gestured: "Teacher Bai must have gold jewelry, like earrings and necklaces. Don't they turn black after wearing them for a long time? That's because gold reacts with the skin, and with the lead and sulfides in cosmetics..."
Apart from the overly focused Teacher Bai, the other three women were all stunned for a moment: According to Lin Sicheng, the cosmetics are full of poison?
Lin Sicheng smiled and continued, "If it's a genuine gold artifact, the lead and silver are inside the gold, so the process is extremely slow, taking almost a thousand years to oxidize to the slightly dark color you see..."
"If it's a counterfeit, how can gold jewelry quickly reach this level of aging? It's simple: cover the surface with a sulfide layer for a rapid reaction..."
As Lin Sicheng spoke, he inserted the cotton swab tip into the test tube and handed it to Li Zhen. Then he smiled and said, "As for whether it's true or not, we'll know once it's sent to the lab and tested..."
Bai Wanxin sank: Had she misjudged him?
As he said, whether it is true or not, a test will tell.
After a long pause, she sighed again: "At least it's gold!"
Lin Sicheng immediately poured cold water on him: "That's not true at all. Although gold makes up a portion, it's very small, about 10%. The rest is all copper and silver."
"Huh? How is that possible?" Bai Wan was stunned. "They even used a blowtorch to burn it when they bought it, so it's neither black nor soft?"
"Because the surface is gilded and a tiny bit of rhenium has been added. This metal has a characteristic: an extremely high melting point, above 3000 degrees Celsius, and even higher hardness... So, no matter how you heat it, this ring won't turn black or soften, unless you cut it open directly..."
Bai Wan looked confused: "What is rhenium?"
"It's a rare element, also known as a rare earth element, with a very narrow range of applications: airplanes, spacecraft, and the like, so you probably haven't seen it before..."
I've never even seen it before, let alone heard of it.
Subconsciously, Bai Wan glanced at Ye Anning, who immediately shook her head: She hadn't heard of it either!
Lin Sicheng smiled and pushed the gold ring back: "If you can return it, try to do so. If you can't return it, then you'll just have to keep it..."
However, to be fair: the craftsmanship of this bracelet is extremely exquisite. Apart from the addition of rhenium to the gold plating layer, everything else follows traditional methods, making it quite artistic!
No matter how artistically significant it is, it's still just a replica, especially since over 90% of it is made of copper and silver.
Slightly annoyed, Bai Wan put away the gold ring and opened another box: "I'll have to trouble you again!"
Lin Sicheng nodded, glanced at it, and then his pupils couldn't help but shrink: a gold-inlaid agate cup with an animal head?
What did I just say?
national treasure!
As soon as I turned around, I saw one?
I'm really impressed by this lady, she'll buy anything!
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