Chapter 22: The Expert's First Move (3)

  After searching for half a day in Panjiayuan, he finally bought several mirrors. As for what purpose, only Gu Quanzhong himself knew, but Qu Wen believed that with his level of connoisseurship and understanding of the antique market, he wouldn't be taken advantage of.

  Back at Bao Guoqiang's home it was already noon, after lunch, Bao Guoqiang couldn't wait to have Gu Quan bring out the copper mirror he had bought.

  "Master, you've never been one to act rashly, there must be something special about these four mirrors."

  Gu Zhong smiled but didn't speak, and placed the four-sided copper mirror on the table.

  Bao Guoqiang first picked up the Hai Shou Pu Tao mirror, looked at it for a while and shook his head: "The pattern is indeed from the Tang Dynasty, and the quality is not bad. Unfortunately, it's a Ming Dynasty imitation. The market price is around 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, not worth much."

  Qu Wen sat on the side, secretly astonished. These four mirrors cost a total of 16,000 yuan, averaging 4,000 yuan per mirror. If what Bao Guoqiang said is true, wouldn't they have been bought at a loss? Or perhaps there's another secret to these mirrors.

  Bao Guoqiang continued to look down, shaking his head at the inscribed bronze mirror and the double fish mirror: "The patterns on these two mirrors are too common, not very artistic, they can only be sold for one or two thousand yuan."

  He put down the inscribed bronze mirror and the double fish mirror, and finally picked up the grape double dragon mirror. He took a glance at it first, then his eyebrows furrowed tightly, as if he had seen some rare treasure. He took out a magnifying glass and examined it carefully for a long time. When he put down the copper mirror, he let out a long sigh of admiration: "Master, you are indeed not old yet, spending over 16,000 to buy three mirrors, actually setting up an ambush for this one."

  It's not easy to come to Beijing, and unexpectedly, the day before yesterday, I picked up a big leak at Panjiayuan. This kind of big leak is not something that can be picked up at will, many people may not encounter it once in their lifetime. I secretly thought that I had borrowed Qu Wen's good luck, and my heart was very happy, smiling and saying: "What do you think?"

  The text is already translated to English as follows:

  "The inscription on the mirror was unclear, but it had a strong spiritual aura. Although it was obviously from the Ming dynasty, it didn't seem much different from the fine pieces of the Qing dynasty. My curiosity was piqued, and I couldn't help but wonder what made this mirror special and how much it could be worth."

  "Qiang Ge, what's special about this mirror? Could it be that this isn't a clear mirror, but a magic mirror from the Tang Dynasty?"

  Bao Guoqiang was inwardly excited, but deliberately put on a mysterious air: "Who says this is a Mirror of Tang? This is just a bright mirror, but not an ordinary bright mirror. This is the Double Dragon Grape Mirror!"

  It's grapes again. Does it mean that the copper mirror will be valuable if grapes are added to it? Qu Wen looked at Bao Guoqiang with a silly expression.

  "This pair of Longwang cloud pattern mirrors are not uncommon in the world, and their value is generally between several hundred to several thousand. The price is mainly determined by the craftsmanship and preservation degree. Firstly, this mirror's preservation degree is quite good, without any defects or rust, it should have never been buried underground, and has been passed down through generations until today, it's a familiar piece, which means it has not been buried underground or unearthed for a long time and has been played with by people all along."

  "Next is its work, the size is quite large, and it should be around 150mm in diameter. Round, mirror-smooth and glossy, with a pair of dragon ring buttons on the back, the body is stretched out, head held high, neck curved, mouth slightly open towards the sky, expression finely carved, shape as if about to soar into the air. Clouds are flowing and dancing beside it, cloud patterns resembling delicate flowers. The outer circle has bird flower branch patterns and grapevine patterns surrounding it, each with a different shape, lifelike modeling. More importantly, this button is not an ordinary flat one, but has a crouching beast pattern on top, also known as a crouching beast button. A mirror like this, so beautiful and well-preserved from the Ming dynasty, is extremely rare, and is quite different from ordinary grape double dragon mirrors. If I had to estimate its value, I think it would be at least 300,000 yuan or more, maybe even 500,000 yuan wouldn't be difficult. If it were taken to an auction house after some hype, the value would definitely be higher."

  "What!" Qu Wen was shocked by Bao Guoqiang's words, yesterday he was lucky to pick up a big leak and earned more than 100,000 yuan, for which he was self-satisfied all night. He didn't expect that with just one move from Gu Quan, several hundred thousand yuan came easily, and compared to him, it was not worth mentioning, truly a master shows his hand, and you know if he's got it or not!

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, after a few years, this "Double Dragon Grape Mirror" was sold at Christie's auction for 35.6 million yuan. At the same time, another two mirrors, "Ming Yueman Running Beast Mirror" and "Xianqiwen Lotus Flower Mirror", were sold for 89.7 million and 87.4 million respectively, setting a new record for Ming dynasty copper mirrors and increasing collectors' attention to them, rather than Han and Tang dynasties being the most valuable. Of course, this is a later story. However, in 2002, people did not pay much attention to Ming dynasty copper mirrors, which allowed Gu Quanzhi to pick up such a big bargain.

  Since that's the case, why didn't Gu Quan just buy this 'Double Dragon Grape Mirror' alone, but instead spent more money to buy three other mirrors as well? This left Qu Wen baffled.

  "Master Gu, since you had already set your eyes on this pair of Double Dragon Grapes mirrors, why did you spend more money to buy others and even wrote a long article about that Sea Beast Grapes mirror?"

  This approach is similar to the "secret crossing of Chen Cang" in the Art of War, slightly despicable, in order to maintain a clear and proud heart, naturally not liking to say much.

  Bao Guoqiang sat beside him, helping to explain: "If Master didn't do this, I'm afraid it would be impossible to buy this pair of Double Dragon Grapes Mirrors at such a low price. Think about it, in the Pan family garden, there are definitely people with knowledge of antiques, if they saw it, they might reveal the mystery, and the seller would take the opportunity to raise the price. So Master first attracted everyone's attention to that Sea Beast Grapes Mirror, and at the same time bought four mirrors, now who would still pay attention to the fact that among these four mirrors, one of them is a treasure."

  "Master!"

  At that moment, Gu Quan's image rose again in Qu Wen's heart. To mix in the antique business, it's not enough to just have good luck, you also need rich experience, deep knowledge, quick reactions and a clever brain. In just half a day, Qu Wen learned quite a few things, although Gu Quan didn't directly teach him, it was more effective than listening to teachers drone on in class.

  "Master is indeed a master, you've seen the Pan family garden, are you interested in visiting Liuli Factory? That's a famous cultural street and antique street at home and abroad. I happen to have a store there, if you're interested, you can come to my place to take a look around, maybe you can learn more things." Bao Guoqiang praised Master while not forgetting to rope in Qu Wen, such a good seedling is hard to find. Rather than putting it in Chen Qifeng's pawnshop, it's better to leave it in his own antique shop.

  Qu Wen became more and more interested in the antique appraisal industry, excitedly responding: "Okay, as long as Master Gu doesn't object, I want to go now."

  Gu Zhanchuan didn't know Bao Guoqiang's thoughts, and it was rare for Qu Wen to be so interested in antique appraisal. He didn't expose him and said lightly: "Let's call it a day today, we'll go again tomorrow, take a rest, I have some things to teach you later."

  "Thank you, Master Gu." Qu Wen responded obediently. Since Master Gu was willing to teach him something that others couldn't even ask for, he immediately agreed. Then he turned around and said to Bao Guoqiang: "Brother Qiang, tomorrow you must take me to your store to take a look around. If I have time, I also want to visit the Palace Museum and the National Museum."

  "With you saying that, what's the point of Brother Qiang accompanying you every day?" Bao Guoqiang secretly laughed to himself, thinking that Qu Wen was already in his grasp, like a monkey head in the hands of the Buddha, unable to fly away again.