Looking at the type first means looking at the shape of the artifact first, because the artifacts made in each era have their own characteristics. Then look at the flowers, that is, observe the patterns. Each era has its main decorations, which are complementary to the shapes. Take it in your hand and look at the bottom, that is, carefully look at the mold lines, molding warts, gaskets, moldings, and mesh patterns left underneath. The warts mentioned here refer to the residual copper liquid in the pouring holes and vents. After cooling, the warts are formed. Open your eyes tightly and speak slowly, that is, read first and then speak, and make judgments after analysis. Chu Chen observed carefully based on the proverb. The bronze tripod in front of him was just like the one he saw for the first time. The shape of the vessel and the painting method of the decoration were all typical features of the bronze tripod of the late Shang Dynasty. , looks exactly like the real thing. This made Chu Chen feel a little strange. Could it be that the inscription on it was really caused by accidental factors? Thinking of this, Chu Chen secretly shook his head, feeling that this situation was really unlikely. You must know that for a bronze artifact, its patterns, shapes and inscriptions should be unified and not contradictory. Since the patterns and shapes are both characteristics of the late Shang Dynasty, the inscriptions should also be the same. Just like dressing up, under normal circumstances, unless there are special needs or the person has a mental problem, it is impossible for anyone to wear a cotton-padded jacket in the summer. What's more, in the Shang Dynasty, the tripod was a very sacred artifact, otherwise it would not be possible to say that the emperor had nine tripods. In this case, the production of a tripod would often consume a long time of a craftsman's energy and time. , therefore the possibility that the inscription was written in question is unlikely to exist. Because of this, even though Du Shengqing said that just now, Chu Chen still has big doubts about the authenticity of this bronze tripod. But the thing is so strange. Although he thinks the bronze tripod is very likely to be an imitation, the shape and decoration look the same as the real thing. For the time being, he really can't see anything wrong with it. If this bronze tripod is finally confirmed to be an imitation, then the level of the counterfeiter is really too high. Words return to home. Since no problem could be found from the shape and pattern for the time being, Chu Chen continued to read according to the proverbs. The inscriptions must be carefully inspected, as rust spots and dirt are checkpoints. What this sentence means is that inscriptions generally have a fixed orientation, but this is not the case in some cases, and rust covers the inscriptions, which affects the judgment. Therefore, you must pay close attention when observing the style of inscriptions. In addition, the rust spots and dirt on bronzeware are caused by the oxidation of old materials, so the rust is hard. Divided into layers and sections, the ground is still sunny. Fake rust is the opposite. Therefore, rust spots and soil are key artifacts to identify fakes. ??Also, the bronze casts are narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and those with lumps and cracks must be genuine. Similarly, if the cast inscription has mold marks and the original oxide layer has not been moved, it must be a genuine inscription. On the contrary, if there is fake rust, fake ground, lack of oxide layer or damage, it is fake if it is not imitated. And then, the more Chu Chen looked at it, the more surprised he became. Although he had carefully observed the inscription before, he still looked at it carefully and found that except for the writing method, other features were exactly the same as the original. In addition, this bronze vessel is a cooked pit artifact, and there is no difference in all the characteristics of the cooked pit. This situation made Chu Chen couldn't help but murmur in his heart. How is this going? Could it be that the previous senior experts¡¯ conclusions were wrong? In the late Shang Dynasty, was there indeed another way to write inscriptions? Is it just because there are too few finished products that only the bronze tripod in front of me has been handed down to this day? In fact, Chu Chen had already thought about this result. You know, it had been twenty years since Du Shengqing got this bronze tripod, even if it was a replica. If the wrong place could be found so easily, things wouldn't be happening today. But, others can¡¯t confirm the authenticity of the bronze tripod, but Chu Chen can¡¯t. After all, he still has the ability to identify antiques. So he immediately used the superpower, and the result he gave also made him feel a little surprised, because this bronze tripod was actually a product of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. "At that time, who could have such a high level of forgery?" Chu Chen thought about it silently, and then thought of the bronze tripod that Du Shengqing bought in Su Shi. He immediately thought of a person, Zhou Meigu. There are four most famous regions for imitating antique bronzes in modern times, and Suzhou City is one of them. The fakes in Suzhou City are unique in terms of copper materials, skin color, rust spots, inscriptions, etc., especially the cooked ones. The pit bronzes are the most famous, but among those that are all fake, Zhou Meigu¡¯s is the most exquisite. Regarding Zhou Meigu's fraud, Ma Guoquan's "Modern Indian Biography" describes it in detail. Meigu is well-known in the art world for his seal making, and he is very skilled at forging seals. It is said that "I am good at imitating ancient seals. I got an old tooth seal in a cold stall one year old. I used the seal script of the Song Dynasty to engraved the four characters "Dongpo Jushi" in a dramatic way. I will have a trip to the island country, and it will be a commemoration for the people of the island country."Mei Gu used this seal to celebrate the birthday of Xiangpo. If the person in charge of it had obtained a treasure, he would buy it at a huge price and print it on the commemorative cloud." Later, he turned to imitating bronze wares and collaborated with Huang Guilun and Tao Yingfu. , Li Hanting, Jiang Baoshan, etc. worked together and each contributed their own strengths to produce a large number of imitations of various ancient artifacts such as tripods, urns, gongs, bowls, plates, and sacrificial vessels. They were beautiful in shape, quaint and lovely, and were sold on seven trips to the east. The "Wulu Company" run by Wu Qizhou and Lu Qinzhai rushed to acquire the work and sold it to Europe and the United States. Chu Chen was not surprised that such a person with a high level of bronze imitation could make a fake one. But a fake is a fake, no matter how hard it is, it can't be true. After confirming his judgment with his supernatural power, Chu Chen looked at the bronze tripod carefully, inside and out, and then looked at it. After finding a seemingly inconspicuous flaw in the pattern, Chu Chen stood up and breathed a sigh of relief. Even with his body, he felt uncomfortable squatting for a long time. Guan Guokang asked quickly: "Xiao Chu, how are things? "Other people in the room also looked at Chu Chen with concern. "I don't dare to draw conclusions about whether things are real or fake. I'll just tell you about a place I saw just now! "After all, the master is still in front of him, and Chu Chen is not willing to tell the result directly. Besides, if he tells the result directly, and the other party does not agree with his judgment, it will be offending. "Xiao Chu, Just say it! Du Shengqing said with a somewhat uneasy expression. Chu Chen said: "The body decoration of this bronze tripod is divided into three levels. The upper layer is the protruding animal pattern eyes and door ribs, the second layer is the main decoration, and the bottom layer is cloud thunder. The three-layer decoration is arranged in an orderly manner and is very three-dimensional. The legs of the tripod are decorated with hooking and connecting thunder patterns" Cloud and thunder patterns appeared in the late Neolithic Age, and may have developed from swirling patterns. By the late Shang Dynasty, cloud and thunder patterns were relatively rare. " Hooking and connecting thunder patterns are one type of thunder patterns. , make oblique chevron-shaped lines, connected by diagonal lines. Generally, the chevron-shaped lines are made into thick lines, and the thunder lines are filled in thin lines. There are also cases where the chevron-shaped lines are used as dotted lines and the thunder lines are used as shaded lines. Du Shengqing frowned and said: "This. Any questions? I think tattoos are quite normal! "Chu Chen pointed at the tripod foot and said, "The problem lies in the connecting thunder pattern at the tripod foot. " "ah! "Guan Guokang and Du Shengqing were extremely surprised when they heard this. They lowered their heads and observed carefully. After a while, Du Shengqing said: "There is no problem with the connecting thunder pattern. It is very smooth and powerful. It should be made by a highly skilled craftsman. Done. " Guan Guokang also frowned. His opinion was the same as Du Shengqing's. However, since Chu Chen said this, there must be a basis for it, so he raised his head and was ready to hear the basis for what Chu Chen said. " Chu Chen explained: "You two must know that the hook-and-thunder pattern was first seen in the middle of the Shang Dynasty and became popular at the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, there are some differences between the connecting thunder patterns between the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty. As for this bronze tripod, I have seen from the literature that this kind of connecting thunder patterns should only exist in the early Zhou Dynasty and did not exist in the Shang Dynasty. Found it. " Hearing what Chu Chen said, Guan Guokang frowned and recalled whether the books he had read did contain the information Chu Chen said, but Du Shengqing's face began to look a little bad. " After all, Du Shengqing's main collection is Decades of research on bronze ware have made him quite knowledgeable in this area. He had thought that hooked thunder patterns existed in the mid-Shang Dynasty, so he did not find it strange that this bronze tripod from the late Shang Dynasty had hooked thunder patterns. . In addition, these hooked thunder patterns do look like they were made by craftsmen at that time, and they are basically no different from the hooked thunder patterns of the Shang Dynasty, so he really didn't pay much attention to this aspect, but there is basically no difference, which does not mean that it is true. There was no difference. Now thinking back to the books he had read before, Du Shengqing discovered with heartache that he had never seen any book in which the hooked thunder pattern of the Shang Dynasty had such an appearance. Some people might say, Maybe it has not been discovered before? If it is just that, it may not be certain like the previous inscriptions, but coupled with the inscriptions that are different from the late Shang style, the chance of being imitated is very high. " Not careful! I'm still not careful! "Du Shengqing let out a long sigh of frustration. Seeing his father's expression, Du Liyu asked in astonishment: "Dad, is there really something wrong with the bronze tripod you collected? " Du Shengqing nodded: "Hey! In the past, if the inscription was wrong, you could still survive for a while, but now the decoration is wrong, and there is a 90% chance that it will be a fake. Lao Guan, I¡¯m so sorry for you! ¡± Guan GuoKang smiled slightly, waved his hand and said: "What's the matter? Who in our profession can live without noticing it for the rest of his life? Besides, there are many people in our profession who know about your bronze tripod, and many of them have come to see it with their own eyes. , haven¡¯t you still discovered the problem of hooking the thunder pattern? If you ask me, the faker is too skilled.¡±