The age and artistic value of this incense furnace have been determined, but is it a real Xuande furnace?
Ye Tian didn't immediately check the censer's bottom, nor opened the perspective, but resisted the impulse to carefully appreciate and study this masterpiece of ancient Chinese art.
Appreciating its charm, verifying its authenticity, finally discovering the answer, and confirming whether his judgment is correct, this is the most enjoyable treasure hunting process.
This is a three-legged straight mouth bronze elephant ear incense furnace, the whole body is purple-red, the overall shape is simple and elegant, simple and generous, without failing in the honesty and exquisiteness, revealing a kind of elegant beauty!
The design of the bronze elephant ears is perfect. The elephant's head has thick eyebrows and apricot eyes, and its long nose is straight.
The furnace body is very plain, with no other patterns other than a pair of bronze elephant ears. The inner treasure and luster are gentle, which is in line with the aesthetics of Chinese scholars and gentlemen like jade!
The surface of the incense furnace is wrapped with a layer of patina, which is very natural. It must have been a collector's favorite before. After long-term play, it will have such a beautiful patina effect!
There are some traces of incense in the furnace, which should have been left many years ago. The evidence of someone reading a book at night does not affect the beauty of the entire incense furnace, on the contrary it shows the style of the incense furnace.
Looking at this censer, Ye Tian can be sure that this is a very good ancient Chinese artwork, even if he does not use any supernatural powers, but only based on his life experience and his own understanding of traditional culture!
Such exquisite craftsmanship and magnificent design can only come from the Prosperous Dynasty!
Only the craftsmen and designers of that time had this kind of mind to produce such outstanding works of art.
The closest ancient Chinese times to the present are nothing more than the early Ming Dynasty and the Kang, Yong and Qian dynasties of the Qing Dynasty.
Judging from an aesthetic point of view, this incense furnace is obviously more in line with the aesthetic taste of Ming literati, not as vulgar as the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties of the Qing Dynasty!
What is art? First of all, it must be able to make people feel beauty, and resonate, and appreciate this beauty, then it can be called a work of art!
This feeling of beauty often does not come from the vision, but from the spiritual level and cultural heritage.
The incense furnace in front of him allowed Ye Tian to experience the feeling of beauty, that kind of beauty that comes from the depths of the soul, which makes people feel comfortable and spiritually happy!
This kind of beautiful feeling is something Western art can't give or possess. Only the Chinese traditional culture that has the same origin and root can bring it and make one's soul tremble!
What a beautiful artwork! he want to buy this incense furnace and let it be the elegant play in my study!
Ye Tian's determination to win this incense furnace became firmer!
It's time to check the base, perform a perspective analysis, and unveil the last veil of this incense furnace.
After calming down the excitement a little bit, Ye Tian gently turned the incense furnace over, and cast his eyes to the bottom of the incense furnace, full of expectation, but also a little nervous!
"Made by Li Qujiang"
The engraved four-character willow leaf seal script caught Ye Tian's eyes, making him a little confused in an instant!
What's the situation? It was not made by the Xuande official, but Li Qujiang's private fabrication. It was surprising!
Li Qujiang, a master furnace maker in the Ming Dynasty, produced many classic furnaces through his hands!
One of China's most famous collectors, Mr. Wang Shixiang, once collected his works, and everyone praised his furnace very highly.
Like other exquisite Xuande furnaces, the Xuande furnaces made by Li Qujiang's private congregation are also rare in the market and they are very valuable! Chased by countless collectors!
Mr. Wang Shixiang's "Made by Li Qujiang" furnace was sold for a high price of RMB 4.7 million, and it was still the price in 2010. After a few years, the price is definitely higher now!
However, compared with the real official-made incense furnace in the third year of Xuande, the Xuande furnace of Li Qujiang's private consortium is still waiting. Regardless of other things, only in terms of material, it is a lot worse!
The real Xuande furnace was designed and supervised by the Emperor Xuande himself. It was the first time in Chinese history that wind milled copper was used, and precious metals such as gold and silver were added.
Since the wind milled copper is out of stock, there is no highest specification that the emperor personally presided over. The later Xuande furnaces such as Li Qujiang's private factory can no longer be compared with the genuine Xuande furnaces!
Seeing this base, Ye Tian felt a little regretful.
But this kind of emotion is fleeting, as long as the censer in front of him is taken, it is already a very huge gain, and he can't expect more!
Although this is Li Qujiang's private fabrication, it is also a Xuande furnace. As long as it is a copper furnace cast in accordance with Xuande furnace regulations after the Ming Dynasty, it is called Xuande furnace without exception!
There is the last step, to conduct a perspective analysis, thoroughly grasp all the details of this incense furnace, and then he can ask Adrian for a price and take it down.
At this moment, Betty asked in a soft voice suddenly curiously:
"My dear, this incense furnace is really beautiful! These words are also very beautiful! What are they written? Is it the name of the Chinese dynasty and emperor? Many Chinese antique porcelains seem to have the name of the emperor written under them."
Ye Tian hadn't reacted yet, but Adrian's face quietly changed, and a panic flashed in his eyes.
After receiving the incense furnace, he deliberately asked someone to translate it, and then went to the library to check the information.
When he discovered that Li Qujiang was not the name of a certain emperor, but a common name, he immediately lost confidence in the incense furnace.
In Adrian's view, only Chinese antiques with the name of the emperor are valuable.
For example, those antique porcelains, antiques without the name of the emperor, naturally have no value!
Not only Adrian, but many foreigners think so.
Most of the most popular Chinese antiques and porcelains in the European and American markets are engraved with the name of the emperor. Therefore, it brings these foreigners to the understanding that valuable Chinese antiques are all engraved with the name of the emperor!
Even many Chinese who don't understand antiques, when they see porcelain or incense furnaces from private factories, they disdain it!
Upon discovering this, the incense furnace was immediately abandoned by Adrian, so it was put on sale here.
Hearing Betty's question at this time, he was naturally a little nervous, and it seemed that he couldn't make much money from Steven.
Ye Tian knew that he thought so much, but just smiled and answered Betty's question.
"My dear, this is not the name of the emperor, but the name of an ordinary person. It says 'Made by Li Qujiang', indicating that this incense furnace was made by a man named Li Qujiang.
The real name of the ancient Chinese emperor is to be taboo. It will never be engraved on the artifacts. In the dynasty he was in, he could not directly call his name, only the year name, such as Emperor Xuande!
The identities that we see on Chinese antique porcelain are basically the emperor's reign. If you see the emperor's real name on the porcelain, don't think about it, it must be a fake!"
"It turns out to be folk crafts, it must not be of much value!"
Betty came with the perfect assist, then stopped talking and started to look at other things in the booth.
Adrian's face is even more ugly, and his expectations for this incense furnace have also been adjusted to a lower level, as long as it can be sold, so as not to occupy space, labor, and death!
Ye Tian smiled, did not say anything, and then began to look through the incense furnace.
Unobstructed view as far as you can see!
All the details of this incense furnace were very clear in his eyes.
The incense furnace is perfectly cast, with uniform thickness, average quality, no flaws, and no cracks, and it is indeed a gold-copper alloy incense furnace.
But this is a bit different from the Xuande furnace seen in the Metropolitan Museum. It is not so dense and soft, and the natural treasure is almost meaningless.
Although it looks like there are only some subtle differences, this should be the most essential difference between the two and the reason why the genuine Xuande furnace is unique!
Secretly sighing, Ye Tian retracted the perspective, ready to take down this rare and famous furnace.
"Adrian talk about the price of this incense furnace. As a Chinese, it is really rare to encounter something from my hometown in Kentucky!
This can be considered fate, I like this incense furnace, I want to buy it for fun, if the price is right, I am going to buy this incense furnace to relieve my homesickness!"
It's very sensational, and it depends on whether Adrian can be impressed.
Adrian did not respond immediately, but pondered for a while, and then tentatively quoted the price.
"Steven, you only need to pay 20,000 US dollars to own this Chinese antique! This is a treasure from your country, don't miss it!"
This guy obviously had no bottom in his heart, and there was a sense of insecurity in his tone.