In addition to the highly skilled enamel craftsmen invited from abroad, there are also some domestic workers who are also employed in the imperial glass factory. According to records, they probably come from two famous glass manufacturing centers in my country, Shandong Province Bo Shan and Lingnan, among which Boshan began to produce glass during the Yuan Dynasty. Furthermore, the archives of the Kangxi Qing Palace also record the names of two craftsmen of Lingnan origin in the imperial glass factory. They were Cheng Xianggui and his family apprentice Zhou Jun. According to records, they entered the palace in 1709 and returned to Lingnan in 1715. Qing Palace archives also record that two other European missionaries made great contributions to the glass factory. One is the French Jesuit Ji Wen. He came to China in 1740. Before entering the monastery, he was already a glass and crystal craftsman. He came to China as a watchmaker and glassmaker, and Emperor Qianlong ordered him to work at the Yuanmingyuan Glass Works, specializing in the production of glass of different colors and materials, European-style glass, and gorgeous decorative glass used and furnished in the palace. Another Jesuit glassmaker, Tang Zhizhong, was also from France. He was born in Rouen and entered a monastery in Paris in 1727. He went to Canada in 1730, returned to China in 1735, and only set out for China in 1740. He worked in a glass workshop in Rouen, probably a royal workshop, and was good at making glass sheets. In 1741, he arrived in China and was ordered to work in the Canchikou Glass Factory for more than two years. According to the archival records of the Qianlong period, those glassware should first have been fired and blown at the factory in Canchikou, and then went to the Yuanmingyuan workshop for painting. The Yuanmingyuan workshop was where the most exquisite glassware was made, and was under the personal supervision of the emperor. Now, Chu Chen can be sure that there are a number of related extant glassware including the pen holder in his hand. They were probably painted and decorated by the Yuanmingyuan workshops between 1736 and 1758, during the peak period of glass production in the Qianlong Dynasty. This point can be seen from the several pieces of enamelware with painted enamels now collected by Sir David in England. You can see it. For example, this pen holder in his hand. In terms of painting skills, there is basically not much difference between the style of painting and the few landscape painting materials collected by David. It can also be seen from this that although these pen holders are not painted by the same painter, they should be painted in the same workshop. In addition, the painted enamel vessels collected by Daweide are all carved with double-framed four-character regular script inscriptions, and some of the inscriptions have traces of blue color. The same goes for the pen holder in Chu Chen's hand. Playing and appreciating the pen holder in his hand, Chu Chen was filled with admiration in his heart. Judging from the whole rest, Although the height of this pen holder is only 7.2 centimeters, the landscape on the pen holder is vividly expressed. Among them, the brushstrokes also show a variety of techniques. The mountains and rocks are clearly layered, and the trees are either dotted or clipped with leaves depending on the type. It is a combination of color and ink, with the ink pen as the backbone, green as the main tone, and a little bit of bright red. Due to the glaze, the color is a little brighter and brighter than painting. Its composition is dense and dense, with clear layers. The scenery is well-proportioned and orderly, and the brushstrokes are natural and flexible, rendering them smooth and smooth. The style is fresh and unique with artistic charm, and the overall painting style is full of the rigor and magnificence customary to Qing Dynasty palace landscape paintings. The elegant and subtle features are pleasing to the eye. Endless entertainment. In addition to the superb skills reflected in the tire materials and paintings, it is also due to the historical reasons of the year. It also adds a lot of value to this kind of material enamelware. At that time, with the death of two foreign experts, Tang Zhizhong and Ji Wen, from 1757 to 1758, this technology began to decline after 1758. In the 25th year of Qianlong's reign, that is, after 1760, Yuguang's output dropped sharply. Craftsmen no longer had the innovative ideas they had in the early days, and they never produced exquisite products like the pen holder in Chu Chen's hand. And because the technique of painting enamel on raw materials is extremely demanding, during the peak production period from 1736 to 1758, Chu Chen actually did not produce many such fine products. With all these, such a rare masterpiece, even if it cannot be said to be priceless, can still be regarded as a rare treasure that many collectors can only find. "As for such a valuable treasure, Chu Chen now couldn't figure out why Warren would put it on the antique shelf like this. Could it be that he regarded this pen holder as a fake? This is not right either! Even if he hadn't asked other experts to identify it in the past two days? Is it possible that experts would regard such a unique treasure as a fake? "Could it be?" Just when Chu Chen thought of one of the possibilities, Warren standing next to him smiled and said, "Chu, isn't this pen holder beautiful?" "It's indeed good!" Chu Chen smiled and nodded, Then he asked: "Mr. Warren, I would like to take the liberty of asking, but I don't know where you got this pen holder?" Warren replied with a smile: "This is once, I did a favor to a friend, and he gave it to me. . How about it? It looks like the real thing collected by Sir David, right? I tell you, it¡¯s not just you, I invited one the day before yesterday.??When the expert saw this pen holder, he was very surprised at first. Later, after he looked at it carefully, he said it was a fake. However, he still praised it and said it was a very good imitation" Having said this, Warren reacted immediately. He came over and smiled sheepishly at Chu Chen. Although both parties knew that he had invited experts, they were somewhat less respectful to Chu Chen when he said it in person. He didn't care, after all, Warren didn't have any ill intentions. In addition, from Warren's introduction, Chu Chen understood the reason why this pen holder was placed on the shelf like this. Warren felt that this pen holder was fake. Because he did not believe that his friend would give him a precious cultural relic worth millions of pounds, and the experts invited by Warren said it was a fake. The meaning was self-evident. In order to confirm Zhongzhong's conjecture, Chu Chen laughed again. Then he asked: "Mr. Warren, didn't the expert you invited say that they wanted to acquire this pen holder? " "He did say it, but the price he offered was less than two thousand pounds, and the prices he offered for my other items were also very low, so I said I would consider it" Anyway, they all said After opening it, Warren also said generously that the price given by the other party was too different from the price given by Chu Chen, so he rejected the other party's proposal at that time, but the other party did not give up and told Warren that this Sunday , that is, I will come to visit Warren's house tomorrow. Chu Chen smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Warren, I have to tell you some news that may surprise you. I can be 100% sure that this pen holder is authentic! ¡± In fact, for Chu Chen, he can completely say that this thing is a fake. As long as the price he offers is right, Warren will definitely agree, but in that case, his conscience will really feel uneasy. Some people may say that since Chu Chen Chen thought so, so when he was picking up leaks in the past, why did he buy the genuine ones at the price of fakes? This seems to be a bit contradictory, but in fact the situation is different. Picking up leaks is a business, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer, and make money. Everyone relies on their own eyesight. But now, like the unknown expert, he is asked to describe something that is obviously genuine as a fake in order to make huge profits. This is really against his professional ethics. Moreover, as an old saying goes, if Chu Chen really has to buy something back at a fake price now, what will happen to Wu Ke, Mina and others when they find out about it? Think? You probably think that Chu Chen doesn¡¯t even care about morality for money! Of course, the last reason is that Chu Chen is not short of money at all now. If he didn¡¯t have powers before, he might not be able to bear it. The temptation of money, but for him now, there is no need to go against his heart because of this benefit. When Warren heard what Chu Chen said, he was immediately stunned. It took him a while to come back to his senses. , said dumbfounded: "Butbut, Chu, if that's the case, why hasn't this pen holder been recorded? " Chu Chen chuckled and said: "Mr. Warren, you have to know that not every Chinese antique is recorded. " Warren also knows that there are countless antiques in China, and some of them have been secretly collected by private individuals. Therefore, it is certainly impossible to record every antique. But since it is genuine, why did the expert he invited deliberately say that it is As for the fake, you must know that the other party is a relatively well-known expert, is it? "Chu, how much is this pen holder worth now? Warren asked quickly. Chu Chen replied: "Based on the current market value, it should be about one million pounds." "After all, it is still only 2002. Judging from the appearance and workmanship of the pen holder in front of me, the price given by Chu Chen is still in line with the market conditions at that time. Of course, when the price of Chinese porcelain on the auction market is After the hype started, the value of high-quality material enamelware like Warren's pen holder increased exponentially. To be specific, in 2007, Christie's auctioned a Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong's enamel Western mother and child. The transaction price of the painting pen holder was more than 67 million RMB, which was equivalent to 4.5 million pounds at the current exchange rate. The value of Warren's painting pen holder was almost the same as that of the Western mother-child painting pen holder. Warren did not have the ability to predict the future. Moreover, when Warren heard the price given by Chu Chen, he was already shocked beyond measure. After a while, he came back to his senses and said in a stunned tone: "Chu, Are you serious? " Chu Chen replied with an affirmative look on his face: "Don't worry! I would also like to ask you to buy this pen holder. I would never make a joke with my own money, right? " "Then then why did he say it was a lie before? Could it be" Seeing Warren's reaction, Chu Chen nodded and said: "Yes, it's what you thought. The expert you hiredThe dealer probably just wants to pass it off as fake and then buy it back at a very low price in order to make huge profits. " "How could he do this! "Warren said with a look of shock and anger: "He is a well-known expert, does he not even care about professional ethics? "(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!