Even Chapter 9 isn't as good as you.
In just two minutes, the cashier had prepared the receipt, and the clerk led a slightly well-off man in his early forties to the reception area.
The appraiser got straight to the point: "My surname is Hao, and here's the item!"
Lin Sicheng stood up: "Excuse me, Master, this!"
The appraiser paused, his eyes looking slightly strange: a feather duster?
To be honest, he had never seen such an object before.
I have heard that during the late Qing Dynasty, the Cai family in Beijing made dusters exclusively for the imperial court, which were then called "tribute dusters".
Although they are feather dusters, all the feathers are the same color and length, and the handles are made of small-leaf sandalwood.
Look at this one: the feathers are mixed and messy, and the handle is just an ordinary bamboo handle. It definitely has nothing to do with a traditional duster.
So, what is the value of this identification?
He frowned: "Authentic appraisal?"
It means: It's not too late for you to regret it now.
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment, then chuckled, pointing to the tail, "Of course it needs to be appraised, Master, look: there are words on it!"
There are many things with inscriptions, but not every piece can be considered a collectible. Even if it is a collectible, not every piece can be valuable.
Young people really do go with a thousand yuan, just like that?
He sighed, opened the box, put on gloves, and was about to reach for it when he squinted: there were indeed words on it, Mr. Qiuming... he looked somewhat familiar.
The key is this character; it looks unusual.
Is it in the style of willow branches or cursive script? It has its own unique character, and is both graceful and flowing, yet vigorous and slender.
Ordinary people couldn't write it, let alone carve it; therefore, the author must be at least a master.
Looking at Mr. Qiu Ming again... wait, Shen Yinmo?
His eyes lit up, then he frowned: Something's not right.
It's not that the characters are wrong, but that the person is wrong: Shen Yinmo first studied the "Two Wangs" and then the "Ouyang Xun style," which is more upright than elegant, but he cannot express this kind of gentleness.
Furthermore, what author would refer to himself as "Mr." even if he were a real Mr.!
The craftsman looked at it for a long time, then stared at Lin Sicheng: "The old paste is too thick, it needs to be washed!"
"Okay, let's wash!"
"It'll take two days!"
It takes this long?
Lin Sicheng looked around and pointed to the toolbox: "Master, how about I do it myself?"
Young man, can you handle anything without a little patience?
Thinking this to himself, the master nodded and picked up the tools one by one.
"The item is definitely old, at least fifty or sixty years old. It hasn't been properly maintained, which is why it has accumulated such a thick layer of old grime..."
"After so long, the bamboo pole must be quite worn out. We need to use a soft brush first, but we can't be too rough..."
The master kept talking, and Lin Sicheng kept nodding, but he was holding a cotton cloth instead of a brush.
With a "plop," a whole bottle of walnut oil was poured on it, and then it was wrapped around the bamboo pole.
The appraiser looked resentful: This young man is all about "you say your piece, I'll do mine."
Why are you nodding?
But I must say, they're quite knowledgeable.
After about three minutes, Lin Sicheng untied the cotton cloth, picked up a carving needle, and picked up one piece at a time.
The appraiser was both surprised and amazed: This young man not only knows, but his technique is also incredibly skilled.
He's incredibly bold, and remarkably, his hands are steady.
Silently praising him, the old grime was picked away piece by piece, revealing more and more words. Master Hao said slowly and deliberately: "If you can't sweep a room, how can you sweep the world? Written by Yuan Ke in Zuojing in the winter of the year Wuchen, and presented to Mr. Qiuming."
The winter month of the year Wuchen... If Mr. Qiuming is Shen Yinmo, then it must be November 1928.
But where is Zuojing? I've never heard of it.
Who the garden guest was, no one knew.
I don't recall which calligrapher used this pen name, otherwise I wouldn't have forgotten it. But this calligrapher is certainly not an unknown figure.
Moreover, nine times out of ten they are sculptors.
Unfortunately, after looking for a long time, Master Hao still couldn't figure it out. He rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue: "Young man, is it hard for you to earn this thousand yuan?"
Lin Sicheng suppressed a laugh and nodded.
If it were so easy to make money, this stuff wouldn't end up on street stalls.
The duster was indeed an ordinary duster. Even without any dirt, only the four characters "Mr. Qiuming" could give people a slight association: during the Republic of China period, Mr. Shen Yinmo called himself Qiuming.
A renowned scholar, revolutionary, educator, calligrapher, and poet… He co-founded the magazine *New Youth* with Mr. Chen, Lu Xun, and Hu Shi. Later, he served as the president of Peking University and a member of the Kuomintang Supervisory Committee. His calligraphy alone earned him the titles "Southern Shen and Northern Wu," and "Two Giants of Peking University."
Isn't it eye-catching?
But ironically, these words weren't written by Shen Yinmo.
Since there's no way to prove that these are Mr. Shen's relics, we can only look for their provenance, such as that of the author who calls himself "Yuanke".
To be honest, it was really hard to find: this "Garden Guest" was indeed quite famous, known as "Zhang in the South and Pu in the North", referring to him and Zhang Daqian.
But that was then. Since he fled to Taiwan in 1949, his reputation had declined year by year.
That's one reason. Secondly, there are too many surviving works, and they haven't been hyped up, so there aren't many people in China researching them, whether for collecting or authentication.
It took another four or five years for it to rise to prominence, riding the wave of Zhang Daqian's success. But unfortunately, it ultimately failed to take off.
Thirdly, he has too many titles, dozens of which are frequently used and infrequently used. Moreover, he only used the title "Yuan Ke" for a few years, so even calligraphy and painting experts might not remember it, let alone miscellaneous experts.
Lin Sicheng didn't keep them in suspense, pointing to the last signature: "This garden guest is Pu Xinyu."
Master Hao paused for a moment, then asked, "Who are you talking about?"
"Pu Yi's younger cousin, Yi's grandson, originally named Aisin-Gioro Pu Ru, initially styled Zhongheng, later changed to Xinyu, also known as Xihuang Shangren, Xishan Yishi, Jiu Wangsun, Mingyi, Huzhongke, Yuanke..."
This "garden guest" refers to his initial residence in the Cuijin Garden of the Prince Gong's Mansion, followed by the Xihe Garden, and then back to the Cuijin Garden... However, after Puyi became the puppet emperor of Manchukuo, that is, after 1932, he abandoned this title to avoid suspicion. Therefore, his stay was short-lived...
Looking at the year of Wuchen on the duster, it also matches: In 1928, Mr. Shen was wanted by the authorities for publicly supporting the student movement and temporarily fled to Japan. Because he had studied at Kyoto University twice before, he rented a room in Yoshida Dormitory in Sakyo Ward.
At that time, Pu Xinyu was teaching at Kyoto University and also lived in Yoshida Dormitory... One was a calligrapher, and the other was a painter. Both were celebrities in the cultural circles of Beijing, so they had known each other for a long time.
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land, especially one with whom he had been close friends, was a double joy. However, having nothing of value to his name, Pu Xinyu offered Mr. Shen a feather duster he had on hand…
Lin Sicheng kept talking, but Master Hao's expression became increasingly strange: You're quite good at making things up.
But on second thought, it's not impossible: historically known as "Zhang in the South and Pu in the North," Pu Xinyu excelled in landscape and figure painting, was skilled in carving, and was also good at calligraphy. He and Shen Yinmo were indeed acquainted.
If what this young man said is true, and the two were stranded in Japan and then suddenly met again, it would be quite normal for Pu Xinyu to give Shen Yinmo a feather duster.
Of course, this is only a possibility. So even if it is proven to be a work by Pu Xinyu, its value is only average.
This is because there are too many works: it is said that Zhang Daqian has more than 20,000 surviving paintings, while this one has at least three times that number.
Because there are so many of them, their value is low, and naturally, there is little research on them.
Besides, my main research area is miscellaneous items, while Pu Xinyu is a painter. And what are these characters carved on the bamboo pole? He also used a name that he hadn't used much before, so I really can't blame myself for not having a good eye.
It's no exaggeration to say that if he were the one who encountered it, even if there was no dirt on it, he wouldn't spend four hundred.
Forty is more like it...
"So it's a Japanese feather duster?"
He found another excuse for himself and pointed at the shop assistant, "Call Mr. Liu and ask him to pick up my computer while you're at it."
He called out, then stared at Lin Sicheng, "Where did you get this stuff?"
"I found it at Xiaodongmen, and it cost me four hundred!"
What is that?
He was startled: "You didn't take it from home?"
"How could that be?" Lin Sicheng said, both amused and exasperated. "It's not far at all, we could find out just by asking!"
"No...then how do you know so much?"
Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "I'm a senior in the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology at Xida University!"
Master Hao mumbled: I graduated from Peking University, but I'm still not as good as you.
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