November 11, 2010, for the "Banbridge Auction House" in West Ruislip, London, is definitely a memorable day. In such a narrow auction house, a Qing Dynasty Qianlong pastel bottled bottle shot the unprecedented high price of Chinese art - 550 million yuan, countless people fell through the Glasses.

Hero does not ask birth

Regarding the exact origin of the vase, nobody knows the details at the moment. Obviously, it is not up to order. At present, it can only be known that it came from a British family. From about 1930, it has been sleeping on the top of a dusty attic in the family's bookshelf for 70 years. As for its earlier life, it is said to be its late master. It was obtained from a person who liked to travel the same year; another saying was obtained by his late master from a relative who liked to explore. "The Daily Telegraph" speculates that it was plundered to the west in the 1899 Boxer Rebellion. The descendants of the family apparently did not know the value of the vase. It was not until the last time the father had cleaned up his old family's house in Pinnes, northwest of London, that the baby was discovered. Fortunately, he did not throw away the rubbish. Who could have thought that such a vase with a gray face could quickly be put in place in half an hour, and it became a hit. It seems that there is no shortage of baby in the world. It is just the lack of finding the baby's eyes.

Ann can distinguish it

This auction has greatly lifted the appetite of major foreign media. It seems that the inherent artistic value of the artwork itself has been completely buried by the record price. On the second day of the auction, that is, November 12, 2010, the Daily Mail, The Times, Metro News, and Santander Evening News all provided special editions to introduce this time. auction. The authenticity of this astronomical vase, which is adoring all of us, is also unresolved.

"The Daily Mail" praised "This is a century-old shoot," and senior antique expert John Axford spoke highly of it and analyzed the reasons for its record-setting: " Perfect and flawless masterpieces, and the auction is right at the right time, location, location, and people.” This auction is being held during the Asian Art Week in London, and the auction house is only one street away from Sotheby’s, the world’s leading auction house. Everywhere, collections around the world gather here and this will make it possible for Chinese collectors to bring back a rare treasure for China.

The Times also quoted Arthur Negus, an expert in the evaluation of the old British treasure hunting program "Antique Road Show," as saying, "This is an out-of-the-box counterfeit product." When David Bainbridge's manager David Reay described the vase, he also said, "It is either the best replica, or worth millions." The vase had been auctioned for a scrap item 40 years ago and it was not sold because of the appalling price. In fact, only two months before the auction, its valuation was only 800 pounds, and the owner of this vase only took it as an ordinary ornament.

In fact, the domestic artists are also mixed in terms of the artistic value of this vase. “This bottle covers almost the most complicated process of Qianlong porcelain production, a variety of glaze colors, blue-and-white painting, foreign paintings, colorful paintings, pastels, gold paintings, cutouts, turning hearts, embossing, and shallow carvings, plus a height of 40 cm. "The commentary of Dong Guoqiang, the chairman of Beijing Everbright International Auction Co., Ltd., at Weibo (http://t.sina.com.cn) is as daring as the decoration of this vase. Indeed, with regard to craftsmanship, this vase belongs to "the pinnacle of Qing Dynasty porcelain".

Collector Ma Weidu believes that “the aesthetics of the times are prosperous, and this vase is certainly not exempt from it. At first glance, it looks beautiful.” Some critics also pointed out: “The best crafts of the dynasties came naturally from the royal family. While the best works of art are almost entirely from the people, even the officials and artists have always been relegated during the golden age of their careers.

The complexities of the process and the luxury of the surface collages, “In addition to craftiness and craftiness, in addition to fanfare or fanfare”, it is not easy to say love you.

This should also be an old saying: "It is true that you can leave real or fake."

Still hold one's face

Behind each collection is a beautiful story. The confusing identity of the seller also added a bit of mystery to the story.

Initially, the auction house stated that in order to protect privacy, the name was hidden, the seller was a brother and sister, and the brothers and sisters called it. In fact, foreign media also disagree with this claim. The Times stated that the seller is an elderly mother and his son and daughter-in-law. This means that the middle-aged person is a husband and wife, not a brother or sister.

On November 21st, 2010, the real seller of the vase in the “Daily Mail” broke out was a retired British lawyer and his older mother. It was not what the media had previously described as a pair of siblings. This was a mysterious seller. Surfaced.

On the same day, the two mothers and sons of Tony Johnson and Jenny Johnson saw their vases sent to the auction house deal at a price 40 times higher than the lowest price, and they were astonished. At the end of the descent, the auctioneer hysterically yelled "the deal" and shook hands with the Chinese mysterious buyer. Johnson's mother and son quickly turned to the door of the auction house.

54-year-old Tony Johnson also told them that they had obtained this astronomical porcelain vase. Tony said that they discovered the baby when cleaning up Tony’s aunt’s family’s belongings. Tony’s uncle, a retired officer of the British Royal Air Force, died in 2006 and left all his legacy with Tony’s aunt, including a property and the Qianlong vase. Compared to vases, the property is only worth 130,000 pounds (1.37 million renminbi).

Tony said that Qianlong vases have been placed in an old shabby shelf in Uncle Toni's living room. Around January of this year, Tony's aunt also passed away, and these legacy were inherited by Tony's 85-year-old widowed mother and Tony herself.

The devil is headed

No matter how high the sky-high bid price is for auctioneers, the best non-Banbridge auction house can benefit. This auction house, which is located in a corner of northwest London, is actually a warehouse that is less than 300 square meters and is now full of colored furniture. Even John Axford, a veteran appraiser at a well-known British auction house, was also honest. If not such an auction, “I’ve never heard of such an auction house”. The auction house used to do auctions under 500 pounds before, and their largest previous deal was just a £100,000 Ming collection. And this sky-high price auction brought them 8.6 million pounds of generous commissions. This is the number of big auction operations that Sotheby’s operations allowed. It is from the heart. The auction itself also supports the fact that if you want to become a leader in this market, you don't have to be an international auction house like Sotheby's and Christie.

Gossip Talk

Since the auction, the sky-high price of Chinese vases has become an indispensable part of the talk of local British people. Even the people who do not pay much attention to news at ordinary times, when they talk about "Chinese vases," they will not mistakenly say, "I have heard! shocked". There are also some Chinese students who are incomprehensible for such a high price auction. They only regard it as an anecdote. "Come on, I'm just soy sauce."

Porcelain patriotism?

Compared with China's high-speed rail, the speed at which China’s richest people have set a new record in the international auction market is equally embarrassing. On October 7, 2010, Sotheby’s Hong Kong auctioned the “Longevity Lian” long-grain gourd bottle, which was sold on October 7, 2010, at Qinghuanglong’s pale yellow land, sold for HK$252.66 million, setting a record for the highest price of Chinese handicrafts and porcelain at the time; For a month, this record was shot on the beach by a Qianlong vase with 550 million yuan. “Financial Times” reporter Stephen Livingston exclaimed that behind the sky-high price vase is the Chinese “porcelain patriotism”. This formulation makes the Chinese people who are facing the anxiety of China’s rise feel very awesome.

In fact, "porcelain patriotism" is nothing more than an expensive high-class hat, the filming of the family was cheaper to sell, using the media hype, sent a "patriotism" sugarcoated shells. However, this precisely caters to the psychological demands of domestic people and bidders. The vanity of the people has been satisfied, and buyers have actually obtained the auction and erected a patriotism archway.

If patriotism is defined by soaring auction prices, then some of our patriotism is "excessive". The modern history of China is a history of humiliation. The plundering by the great powers has led to the exodus of millions of precious works of art. Nowadays, the appearance of Chinese artworks on the international auction market will frequently hurt the nerves of the Chinese people, who are weak and humble. They carry too many common spiritual memories. With the rapid development of China's economy, it is the common desire of the Chinese people to establish cultural confidence and achieve cultural self-improvement. But crudely, if these lost works of art are all returned in the form of auctions, I am afraid that it can only be “exerting the material resources of China and favoring the country”, and this irrespective of cost and almost frantic patriotism can only be achieved. Complete foreign plunder of China for the second time. Can be dealt with more than 40 times the valuation limit, it is inevitable that people were criticized as "money is more than a fool", and it is no wonder that "The Sun" described London as "the auctioneer is so excited that he almost knocked Wooden plaque."

In fact, giving a simple auction with patriotism is also a tough one. First of all, the enthusiasm of the Mainland's wealthy eager to win this Qianlong bottle was not a gift to the country. Moreover, they are all investors who are more rational than impulsive. They value the commercial value of the cultural relics. They will never be overwhelmed and spend a great deal of money. In today’s China and the world’s increasing risk of inflation, how to save their assets is also a matter of hardship for the rich. When they can't profit from the real economy, big money will turn to other opportunities that can quickly profit. Speculating on the property market, speculating on the stock market, speculating on gold, speculating on vegetables, frying fruits, sacrificing jade, and sacrificing artworks are all extensions of inflation expectations.

Perhaps this casual high price record is also a gorgeous speculation. The auction house itself is the show field, and the rich have used this extravagant money-slotting game and unprecedented records, rare records, and sensational patriotism labels to make the auctioneer and auctioneer eye-catching, and also to make the buyer's success in the future. Earning more profit accumulates gimmicks. Or the rich in the Mainland understand the national conditions, the auction can also speak about politics.

Chinese society is in a period of dramatic transformation. The value orientation of society is increasingly diversified. Everyone has different humanistic concerns. The richest people who have lost their overseas Chinese artworks are not necessarily unpatriotic, but they cannot simply equate auction porcelain with patriotism. "Porcelain patriotism" may not be a trap, but "charity patriotism" is more vital.