What is Antiquing?

Antiques are ancient artifacts cherished by people, and are cultural heritage and treasures left to us by our ancestors.

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Prior to the Qing Dynasty, people called precious antiquities "bone bones", so-called "bone", meaning to take flesh rot and save the bone, which means to preserve the essence of the past. Later gradient

Some people think

In order to avoid the pitfalls of antique investment failure, we must first enrich ourselves, choose carefully the antiques we invest in, and understand the contraindications of antique investment, so as to increase the chance of success. Facing the vast collection enthusiasts here, especially those who have just started in Tibet and are about to invest in collections, we may wish to pay attention to the following points:

Cannot exceed financial means

Antique investment is a fascinating investment. If you understand the mystery, it will often get deeper and deeper. Investors are reminded here that they must not exceed their economic capacity.

We may often hear in the market, or see in some books and periodicals, there are many stories of collectors or antique investors who bought their homes at the expense of being fakes. It is therefore important to understand that investing in as much capacity as possible is more insurance. We can take a gradual approach to investing, starting from a few hundred yuan, and then increasing investment with eye and financial resources.

Don't buy fake antiques

Don't buy fake stuff, no matter how cheap it is. Because there is no value in investing at all. Antique products must be produced in large quantities, not only with a rough texture, but also without collection value. It should be noted here that what is not necessarily expensive is the real thing. Many antique dealers will seize the mind of the Tibetans and believe that the high price is the real thing, but it is not true. No matter what the price is, it is not worth collecting investment.

Can't go in and out short-term

Investing in antique artworks buys future value-added potential, and is not suitable for short-term buying and selling. The short-term in and out profit space is very limited. If you can operate from an investment perspective of five or ten years, it will be more flexible.

Not rush

You can't wait to buy antique art. You must think twice before you can't see the same love. It is best to read more books and research, shop more, and find out your own collection. It is best to invest in a series of plans.

Don't be greedy for cheap

A lot of things below the market price may be problematic. Maybe this thing is flawed, or it is dumped in large quantities, or counterfeit works are possible. Be careful.

"Simple" investment

This means that when investing, you may choose to identify less complicated objects, such as the snuff bottle is not old, and there is no problem of age identification.

Antique leather shell wrap

Experts often look at antiques when they look at them. If there is, it is initially confirmed as old, if not, it is considered imitation.

Fake. Viewing the leather shell and pulp of antiques is an important method and means to identify the authenticity of antiques. Many people are not clear on this issue. In fact, the skin shell paste is used to describe the oxidative aging phenomenon of antique surfaces. All kinds of antiques have an evolutionary process from new to old. For example, after the porcelain is fired, the surface of the porcelain glaze will have a strong glaze. We usually call it thief light. From its light effect, it can be initially considered as a new product. However, after 100 years of experience, porcelain is exposed to oxidizing radiation in the air and artificial scrubbing; playing and moving; smoke and dust in the room; and long-term sedimentation of other pollution. The influence of various environmental factors will gradually make the glaze of the porcelain fade and fade. These performance characteristics are called encapsulation. such as:

Jade articles mainly refer to the fact that after being unearthed, the surface of the jade articles was adhered with soil and iron oxide rust spots. These sedimentary substances pass through, and the long-term humidity and different contact objects make the surface of jade articles affected to varying degrees. Will be subject to varying degrees of erosion and oxidation, causing dullness or a layer of slurry-like substances on the surface, these phenomena are usually skin shells. After the jade was unearthed, after hundreds of years of artificial disc grinding and playing, the surface of the jade would have an oily texture and a sense of permeability. This phenomenon is also known as encapsulation.

Bronze mainly manifests as copper oxidation, which causes patina. This patina is formed by underground temperature and humidity and long-term corrosion of various gases. Therefore, the rust spot granularity and density are extremely delicate and the adhesion is also very strong. We know that the appearance of bronzes should be golden yellow, but in the underground, long-term erosion by the environment, or conventional air oxidation, will change the bronzes from golden yellow to dark yellow, dark yellow, brown yellow until they become Black and green. The change of several colors shows that long-term and gradual evolution has formed a layer of oxide scale on its surface. This phenomenon is called the skin of copper.

Antique look

Mainly used for identification of porcelain. In the Qing dynasty, both the shape and variety were significantly increased, and the production was exquisite. Among them, the innovation of the Kangxi period is unique. Among the artifacts are pipa statue, horseshoe statue, elephant leg statue, phoenix statue, guanyin statue, taibai statue, apple statue, apricot leaf statue, stick bottle, boob orange, upside down, willow leaves, and convex belly flower, etc. They are rare in the previous generation. In the Yongzheng period, the creation of the shape of the utensils was also colorful, such as Shuangluzun, Sanyangzun, Zhuangerzun, Lutouzun, Luozizun, Niutouzun, Garlic-banded Ruyizun, skimming olive bottle, Taibai altar , Chrysanthemum disc, etc. In particular, the famous Ming kiln and Yong and Cheng porcelains not only embellish the glazes and patterns, but also are more realistic in shape. The most prominent shapes in the Qianlong period include revolving neck bottles, revolving bottles, revolving bottles, flower baskets, fans and book-type printing boxes, book-type bell jars, etc. In this period, both innovation and antiques reached a climax. The imitation copper, stone, lacquer, jade, bamboo, wood, and elephant creatures were very similar. After Jiaqing and Daoguang, most of them are based on the old system, and rarely have innovative works. The shape has changed from exquisite to clumsy, and it has gradually lost its excellent tradition in the early stage. For example, the shape of the jade pot spring bottle was not significantly different in the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties. Later, it gradually became awkward. In the period of Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Xuantong, it turned into a short and thick abdomen. Beautiful.

After knowing the basic characteristics of Yuan, Ming and Qing porcelain shapes, you need to master the methods of observing the shapes. Generally, we must first pay attention to the mouth, abdomen and bottom. At first glance, many similar vessels are very similar in appearance. If you look closely at these three parts, you can draw different conclusions. For example, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the shape of cutlery such as bottles, pots, and cans often left obvious seams on the abdomen, but after the Qing Dynasty, the seams were not obvious due to the detailed rotation. Such a so-called first-line difference often plays a very important role in the work of discriminating falsehood from time to time. For example, the arcs of the disks of the Yuan Dynasty in the Yuan Dynasty were small and shallow. The arcs of the Yong and Xuan plates in the Ming Dynasty were slightly larger and slightly deeper. In particular, the shape of Yongle, regardless of the size of the plate and bowl, is mostly concave, the bottom of the device is convex, and the inner wall of the foot is slightly outward, which is about one-half to one-fourth shorter than the outer wall. Others, such as the Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty, often have obvious wheel-shaped turning marks (the so-called "jumping knife") on the bottom of bowls and bowls, which are extremely rare in official kiln porcelain. As for the Kangxi market, some of them have double-circle bottoms, and there are many "burlap lines" under the three-color flat-bottomed utensils of the folk kiln, which is also a relatively common feature in the style at that time. Cultural relic workers use these as part of their basis when identifying old and new.

In some eras, the quality of the previous generations is similar to that of later generations. Because of the similarity between the decorative painting method and the raw material of the tire glaze, it is often difficult to distinguish. For example, the Yong and Xuanqing flower skimming bowls are mostly painted with three layers of decoration in the bowl, and the four layers of decoration are painted on the outside of the bowl. At first glance, the glazes are similar, and they are all skimming. However, if you compare them carefully, you will find that the important difference between them is that the convergence of the lower part of the bowl belly is different, that is, the Yongle bowl belly is fuller, and the Xuande bowl belly is slightly cut. The Chenghua blue-and-white skimming bowl imitated during the Yongzheng period also has the disadvantage of slightly cutting the belly of the bowl. These subtle differences are based on flaws caused by technical conditions such as molding and kiln during the imitation of the actual object, or due to accidental neglect (the shape of the imitation is often more or less different from the shape of the original, because Although the imitation is made according to the original device, it is the same as the original device before it is fired, but after firing at high temperature, its shape is different from the original device in some places. This may be due to the preparation and refining of the raw materials. The inconsistency of the precision and thickness is the key to the shape of the discriminator due to the vertical and horizontal contraction and expansion after high temperature). As for some imitations made only by rumors or speculations, such as the so-called "Yongle Pressing Hand Cup" imitated in later generations, the shape is even more strange (Zijia, Wan The time began to grow larger and larger, and even later it became a big bowl without a cup), as long as you have seen the real thing, naturally you will not make a guess.

Antique decoration color

For example, the commonly used pattern of deformed lotus petals (commonly known as "eight major sizes") on Yuan porcelain evolved from the Jin porcelain decoration, especially the appearance of underglaze colors such as blue and white in the Yuan Dynasty and red glaze, which opened up porcelain decoration. The new era has broken the monotonous situation of the past glaze. The invention of various colors after the Ming and Qing Dynasties enriched the decoration of porcelain, and the emergence of each decorative method has its own process of generation, growth, and development, so it can also be used to infer the age of the utensil. For example, in the early blue and white, glaze red because the characteristics of the raw materials have not been fully grasped, so the color of the Yuan Dynasty products is less beautiful, and the glaze red often has the disadvantages of grayish or dark brown or gray black or even scattered. However, most of the mature Yuan Dynasty blue and white, red glaze decoration layout is very beautiful. The pattern not only pays attention to the primary and secondary coordination, but also uses a multi-layer continuous lace pattern. No matter there are a lot of rocks and flowers, there is a circle of blank borders that do not fill the color. Form a unique style (after the middle of the Ming dynasty, this painting method became extinct, although it was used occasionally, but it was rare. In addition, due to the limitation of the raw material composition, the painting methods also have different characteristics of the era, such as the Yuan Dynasty Ming Dynasty At the beginning, some porcelain made of imported green materials were vividly painted in color, but the color tone was extremely unstable and very unsuitable for painting characters. Therefore, there are fewer characters in the Yuan Dynasty. There are also so-called "less people in Yuan Dynasty, Yongle" There is no one, Xuande has more women and more boys. "As for Chenghua Dou Cai, although it has a bright color and is crystal clear and lovely, it is also limited by raw materials and technology. It has the disadvantages of" flowers have no shade, and leaves have no opposite sides. " The characters, regardless of age, gender, or men, wear a single garment in all four seasons, with no rendering of the clothing pattern and different colors on the surface. Similar to these are the characteristics of the times on the ornamentation, which are often ignored by subsequent imitations. It can be noted that nature will certainly help to identify authenticity.

In addition, there can be some epochal differences in the applied colors. For example, according to the physical information currently available, there is no black color in Chenghua's paintings. At that time, in addition to the blue lines painted with underglaze cobalt, red and black Draw contour lines. If we encounter a piece of Chenghua color porcelain with black outline on glaze, we should doubt whether it is real and reliable, because the application of black outline does not exceed the early days of Zhengde. Others, such as the appearance of pastel, are not known to be earlier than the late Kangxi period. Of course, it is difficult to believe that imitation porcelain with pastels is not a fake.

As for the Qianlong period, due to the extensive use of foreign colors and the absorption of Western decorative patterns, some works sought fine lines and singular patterns, so some of the patterns lost their inherent national style. This kind of porcelain has many products after the middle period of Qianlong. Others, such as the official kiln porcelain of the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, were mostly decorated with Arabic characters. There are also Western-style decorative patterns painted on the export porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, which are all relatively unique decorations with distinctive characteristics of the times.

In terms of the characteristics of using words as porcelain decoration, the products of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still different. For example, Ming dynasty porcelain wrote Sanskrit, scriptures, Baifu, Baishou characters, while large-scale poems, words, songs, fu and table, chanting and other decorative characters are written in the Kangxi period. For example, "Chibi Fu", "Teng Wang Ge Xuan", "Front and Back Masters", "Song of the Lord", etc. Such utensils with only text and no picture have rarely been imitated in the past. Clarifying this point is also of great reference value to the specific work of judging the times and distinguishing between authenticity and authenticity.

The characteristics of the times can also be seen from the strokes of the ornamentation. For example, Kangxi porcelain at that time attached great importance to the method of painting porcelain, so the achievements of government and folk kiln porcelain were very impressive, and the patterns on the porcelain were mostly imitating the methods of famous painters. In terms of the method of painting trees only, Kangxi Zhigan likes to use mochi, which seems to be old-fashioned and unrestrained, while the branches painted by Yongzheng Cai only depict the dots. Although the work force is small, the pen power is weak and boring. If we can carefully see the strokes from its ups and downs, etc., it will naturally help our identification work. As for the Ming and Qing dynasties, the kiln patterns are more neat and sluggish, while the folk kiln patterns are vivid and extensive, which are all well-known characteristics. However, there are so-called "Qin limits and ministry limits" in official kiln, and folk kiln porcelain often has works similar to official kiln. The majority of those who brought private money in Qing Dynasty.

When referring to the porcelain of Guan and Min Kilns, it is easy to think of the so-called "five claws of Guan Kiln dragon, three or four claws of Min Kiln dragon". The typical ornamentation of this feudal society, although generally provides us with a clue to judge the authenticity and distinguish the kiln mouth, but it is not absolute. On the contrary, there are both five-claw dragon ornaments in folk kiln porcelain, and the three-claw and four-claw dragon paintings of official kiln porcelain are not absent. For example, "Xuande Guanyao blue and white seawater dragon pattern celestial globe bottles" and a large number of "Kangxi Guanyao blue and white fish dragons changing folds along the wash" are all painted three-claw dragon, "Kangxi official kiln green land plain three-color cloud dragon pattern stationery box" painted four claw Dragon. In the Yuan dynasty, there were three-, four-, and five-prong crockery vessels, and there were also examples of this in Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain.

The decoration on the official kiln porcelain was often inseparable from the hobbies and wishes of the supreme rulers of the time. For example, the Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty was obsessed with Taoism, so he used to decorate with gossip, fairy, and cloud cranes. Emperor Qing Daoguang loved birds, dogs, and grass bugs, so this kind of pictures also appeared more. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, there was a style of rewarding porcelain. For example, the porcelains given by the emperors of the Yong, Qian, Jia, Tao, and Xian dynasties were mainly decorated with white lotus flowers as the main decoration, and the bottle mouth was painted with sea water patterns. (This type of bottle appreciation has a total of nine patterns). The meaning of using this pattern is said to mean that the official emphasis is on Qing (blue, homophonic) white, lotus is clean (lian, homophonic) clean, and seawater is a symbol of peace. Others include a barrel (traditional), Wannian (Millennium Green), two crabs (A), Chuanlu (), Sanyang (Yang) Kaitai, forty-six sons, Wuluntu, six kingdoms, six treasures, eight treasures, Jiuliandeng, Baifu, Baishou, Red Bat (Hong Fu) Qi Tian, etc. Similar to these feudal superstitions, many of them appear on the Ming and Qing porcelains. If we can further connect with the background of the time, for us to master Its development law is of great benefit.

In addition, there are many cases where some commonly used porcelain ornaments have been well documented in contemporary silver, lacquer, bronze and even weaving and embroidery.

fresh. If we can learn from each other and prove each other, we can often find the characteristics of the times and find common rules, and we need to know the characteristics of the times that are more prominent in the porcelain decoration of the past. For example, Yuan Porcelain's deformed lotus petals and mountain stone flowers do not fill the color painting, Yong and Xuan porcelain's morning glory and sea water river buds, Zhengde porcelain palindrome's Xinglong wears flowers, and Jia and Wan porcelain's flowers He Taoist paintings, the double peony and moon shadow plum blossoms of Kangxi porcelain, the branches and leather ball flowers of Yongzheng porcelain, and the embellishments of Qianlong porcelain's wanhuadui and icing on the wall play an important role in judging falsehood.

In short, when observing the porcelain decoration, you must consider the development process from simple to complex, from one color to colorful, and pay attention to its subject matter, brushwork structure, period style and materials used, and refer to other evidence to get a preliminary Recognition, of course, you can't stick to this end and draw conclusions, because imitations made by various methods such as the so-called double kiln picking up color, old tire carving and coloring, and adding dark flowers are often enough to be false. It is necessary to make a comprehensive analysis and research in combination with other characteristics.