The most important thing, and what surprised Chu Chen the most, was that this plum vase didn’t have any markings! You must know that Chu Chen is sure that this plum vase should be an official kiln porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, in terms of its shape, painting skills, and fetal bones. A blue-and-white plum vase fired at an official kiln in the Ming Dynasty, and made of suma-li-green porcelain, had no mark on it. This was very rare in the Ming Dynasty. This situation could only occur during the period in Chu Chen’s memory, and this period was the “blank period” that almost everyone in the ceramics world knew something about. After Xuande, the Ming Dynasty experienced a series of political changes. During this period, the society was in turmoil, with foreign aggression and internal strife one after another, and the economy was depressed. The so-called blank period refers to the three dynasties of Zhengtong, Jingtai and Tianshun, which lasted for nearly 30 years. Under this situation, the porcelain making industry in the porcelain capital was greatly affected, and the firing of official kiln porcelain basically stopped. So far, among the handed down and unearthed vessels, Chu Chen has not seen handed down porcelain that can clearly determine the age and has a chronological mark. Even so, it cannot be said that there is absolutely no such porcelain. Because of this, there is no official kiln porcelain with a year mark among the handed down products, and all the porcelain found is produced by private kilns, so it is known as the "Blank Period" and the "Three Black Generations" in academia. And it is precisely because the porcelain of the three dynasties discovered now was produced in private kilns, many experts believe that there was no official kiln firing at that time. However, Chu Chen had also consulted relevant information before, and learned from these records that during this period, both official and private kilns were still firing, although there were records of bans and reductions in firing. It’s just that the kiln porcelain at that time did not write the year mark due to the turmoil in the current situation. Compared with previous dynasties and later generations, the craftsmanship characteristics and the style of the times are not very clear, or even vague. This has created layers of fog for current dating and appreciation, and orthodox porcelain is particularly confusing. The blue and white plum vase with dragon and phoenix patterns in front of me. It has very distinct characteristics of the blank period, and if Chu Chen is right, judging from its craftsmanship characteristics, it is very similar to the porcelain of the Zhengtong period. Thinking of this, Chu Chen's spirit was lifted, and he quickly took out a magnifying glass from his pocket and observed it carefully. The carcass of this bottle is relatively thick, the body is fine, white and moist, the glaze is white with green flashes, bright and transparent. The degree of vitrification is high. White glaze is applied on the inside of the base and sauce glaze on the mouth. The blue and white hair color is rich and has rust spots, but compared with the hair color of Suma Liqing in the Xuande or Chenghua periods, it still looks a bit brighter. Somewhat inferior. In addition, the shape of this vessel seems to be in the style of the Xuande period, but the base is not carefully repaired. You can see red spots of flint and some kiln slag stuck to the bottom. This may also be due to the social unrest at that time, which led to the lowering of the level of craftsmen. The painting method of this bottle adopts the one-stroke pointillism technique of the early Ming Dynasty. The brushwork is extensive, especially the center stroke. It has very distinct characteristics of the times. The picture is simple, the layout is clear, and the space is large. And judging from the dragon and phoenix patterns on the plum vase. Although the painting techniques are not as good as those during the Xuande period, they are rougher than those during the Jingtai period. It is undoubtedly much more meticulous and exquisite. Finally, Chu Chen carefully observed some other features. I feel that this blue and white plum vase should be a piece of official kiln porcelain from the blank period, and it is also a very rare fine product fired during the orthodox period. It's just that he has never seen official kiln porcelain from the Zhengtong period before, so he is not 100% sure about it, so he used his supernatural power again. "Xiao Chen, is this bottle real or fake?" Mi Jiaying asked eagerly when she saw Chu Chen putting the plum bottle back in its place. "It is indeed a genuine item!" Chu Chen nodded firmly. "Really?" Tao Jiahui looked surprised at first, and then asked with some confusion: "Then what age is it? I heard others say that most blue and white porcelain like this should be dated, right? Is it possible that this is "Is it Yuan Qinghua?" "Do you think your friend would give it to you if it were Yuan Qinghua?" Mi Jiaying said scornfully. "That's right!" Tao Jiahui chuckled. Chu Chen smiled and said: "Generally speaking, except for Yuan blue and white, most of the blue and white porcelain is indeed distinguished. However, in the three periods from Zhengtong to Tianshun in the Ming Dynasty, due to social unrest, the burning of official kilns The production has been greatly affected, and many porcelains from these thirty years have no identification. " "Xiao Chen, do you mean that this bottle was produced at that time?" Tao Jiahui said suddenly. "Yes, I think it was fired during the Zhengtong period." Chu Chen nodded, and then asked: "Sister Jiaying, do you have any plans to sell this plum vase?" "If it can be sold, of course we will. Sold!" Tao Jiahui said with a bitter smile: "Look at what our house is like now, is there any reason not to sell it?""You are serious, you said such disappointing things!" Mi Jiaying complained, and then said to Chu Chen: "Xiao Chen, I can sell you things, but there is one thing, you can't buy them at too high a price. , otherwise we won’t accept it!” “Yes, yes!” Tao Jiahui nodded again and again: “Xiao Chen, if you really recognize me as your brother-in-law, then give me a reasonable price.” Seeing what the two said, Chu Chen thought about it. He thought, and then said: "Let's consider it three million!" "How much?" "Three million?" Upon hearing the price given by Chu Chen, Tao Jiahui's family all showed shocked expressions. They had no idea that this bottle The most important thing that it can be worth so much money is that this bottle can be paid off, which makes them feel incredible when they think about it. After a while, Mi Jiaying came back to his senses and said, "Xiao Chen, don't lie to me. Although I don't understand antiques, I can still get the price by asking." Chu Chen smiled bitterly and said, "Jia Ying Sister, how could I lie to you?" "It can't be so expensive!" Mi Jiaying said with a frown. Chu Chen explained: "Have you forgotten what I said before? Because of the special social environment at that time, there were very few utensils fired in the official kilns at that time, let alone the finest ones, and this plum vase is one of them." It is a fine piece of blue and white porcelain made at that time. Therefore, although this plum vase is not better than the blue and white porcelain of Xuande or Chenghua, it is rare and expensive, and three million is definitely not expensive." Chu Chen's explanation was somewhat accepted by the family, but Mi Jiaying thought of another thing and said, "Xiao Chen, what you are offering now is the market price, right?" Chu Chen chuckled, acquiescing. Mi Jiaying shook his head and said: "This is your fault. Don't think that I don't understand anything. The market price of antiques is only a reference value. How can normal transactions be carried out at this price?" Chu Chen laughed and said: "Sister Jiaying, listen to me, something like this will definitely be worth more if it goes to auction. Speaking of which, I still made a profit. And according to the current antique market, in a few years, maybe This plum vase is worth five to six million, and I'm afraid you will regret it later!" "You kid, how can your future money be compared with what you have now? No matter what, three million won't do it!" Ying said angrily. "Now is a special period after all, and if the master knows that I'm still lowering your price, then he will definitely beat me. You don't want to blow my ass, right?" Chu Chen said pitifully, which made everyone extremely happy. . "Xiao Chen, let me ask a question, are the values ??of antiques as high as this bottle now?" Tao Jiahui asked. Chu Chen replied: "The price of antiques in the past two years is indeed much higher than in previous years, but you don't necessarily have to say it is high. The key is to judge by the quality of the things." Tao Jiahui nodded and said: "Well, I still have two antiques at home. Please help me estimate the value. As for the price of this bottle, we will discuss it later. Do you think it's okay?" Mi Jiaying had some different opinions after hearing this: "Jiahui "Those two things were left to you by your father, so don't sell them!" "What's the point of keeping them if you don't want to sell them? And seeing them reminds me of the past, so I'd better sell them!" Walk inside the room. After listening to the conversation between the couple, Chu Chen and Wu Ke were a little confused, but after all, this matter was someone else's family matter. Although they were a little curious, they did not ask. But then, Mi Jiaying told the reason for the incident. It turned out that Tao Jiahui's father was an alcoholic and had a bad temper. When he was drunk, he would beat and scold both mother and son. Tao Jiahui lived in this shadow for ten years. One time, Tao Jiahui's father was drunk again, but this time he didn't know why he went crazy. He beat Tao Jiahui so hard that his arm was broken. Now Tao Jiahui's mother couldn't stand it anymore. When Tao Jiahui got better, she Although Tao Jiahui's father refused to decide to divorce, he had no choice but to agree under the threat of calling the police. Sometimes, people are like this. They don't know how to cherish until they lose it. The same is true for Tao Jiahui's father. He didn't realize the good things about mother and son until they were divorced, but by now it was too late to regret, even if he really wanted to change his bad ways. Problem is, Tao Jiahui's mother doesn't agree to remarriage. He had sworn countless times before, but in the end he still went his own way. It was like saying too much when the wolf came. In the end, when the wolf really came, people would not believe the same truth. In the end, he had no choice but to find someone else. A new family was formed. The year before last, Tao Jiahui’s father was terminally ill and was dying.He had left two antiques for Tao Jiahui a while ago. He originally didn't want them, but seeing his father's pleading eyes, he finally couldn't bear to refuse and had to accept them. But because of the shadow of his childhood, Tao Jiahui only glanced at these two things and kept them on the shelf. If it weren't for this plum vase, he wouldn't have thought of it. Initially, Chu Chen and Wu Ke were still wondering why Tao Jiahui would think of selling the relics left by his father since the financial problem had been solved. After listening to Mi Jiaying's account, they realized that this was the case. thing. (To be continued)