Chapter 470: Kangxi Lang Kiln

After a rough look, Lin Sicheng returned the plate and began to walk around the several display cabinets.

This clearly meant, "No need for an introduction, I'll look myself."

The Manager looked at Yao Qiming, who nodded slightly: with hands that calloused, how could he be a novice?

Even if his eye for antiques wasn't good, it didn't matter; the Manager and the Expert were right there and could offer a reminder at any time.

The Manager understood and did not follow, standing to the side with the master craftsman.

After scanning the area, Lin Sicheng had a good idea: only the three or four cabinets nearby contained authentic pieces. And not all of them; they were basically half-real and half-fake. The others were at most one real piece for every nine fakes, and the quality wasn't even that good.

After looking around casually, he pointed again: "Manager, could you take this one out for me to see?"

"Of course!"

The Manager walked over quickly and, following the direction of Lin Sicheng's finger, took out the porcelain plate.

Several people gathered around to look closely: it was a Wucai plate with a floral scroll pattern and a coat of arms.

It had a typical Jingdezhen Sticky Rice Body: the particles were extremely small, and the texture was extremely fine. The glaze was delicate and white, and the surface was smooth and bright.

There wasn't much ornamentation, but it was exquisite: the center of the plate featured a gold-traced coat of arms decorated with a scroll pattern, and the rim was painted with peonies and roses. There weren't many colors—only red, green, and yellow—but they were extremely harmonious.

After a couple of glances, Lin Sicheng handed the plate to Feng Sanjiang. Feng Sanjiang first held it up to the light to look, then tilted it to check the side light. After about three or four minutes, he handed the plate to Ding Aqin. Ding Aqin didn't look at the glaze or the patterns, but instead looked at the base.

After another three or four minutes, Ding Aqin placed the plate on the cabinet. Lin Sicheng gestured for Li Zhen to take a turn.

Li Zhen looked at it extremely carefully for a full ten minutes.

Seeing several people gathered around the plate, just looking without saying a word, Ye Anqi was confused: "Is there something wrong with the item?"

Yao Qiming shook his head: "The item is definitely authentic, a genuine piece of Return-flow Porcelain!"

And it was definitely more authentic than the one they had just seen: it had absolutely returned from Europe.

But there was one point: the painting style was wrong, and the craftsmanship was also wrong: this was Gold-traced Five-colored Porcelain, not Guangcai Porcelain.

Also known as Overglaze Five-colored Porcelain (relative to Doucai), it meant it was painted all at once and fired all at once, belonging to the category of low-temperature glazed Wucai.

If viewed as Wucai: the body was correct, a Jingdezhen Sticky Rice Body. The glaze was correct, a mid-Qing Cold White Glaze. The pattern was also correct: openwork.

Even the painting technique was correct: Water-wash Shading, and the pigments were also correct: Native Gold, Alum Red, Ancient Purple, Big Green, and Ancient Yellow.

Seeing this, nine out of ten people would think this was Export Porcelain fired at a Jingdezhen Folk Kiln during the mid-Qing period, roughly the Qianlong era. But then the problem arose: the coat of arms was wrong: the scrollwork and wheat ears surrounded a shield shape, and it also resembled a crown... Counting through Europe from the sixteenth century to the present, there had never been such a coat of arms.

If it wasn't sold to Europe, where else could it have been sold? During that same period, only Europe had family coats of arms.

Besides the coat of arms, there was another point: the mark was wrong.

Export Porcelain generally did not have marks; even if it did, it would only have a custom coat-of-arms mark or a Latin mark. But this piece had two bottom marks with very distinct Chinese characteristics: one Seal Mark and one Flower Signature.

But the strange thing was, no one recognized them?

Feng Sanjiang was considered knowledgeable and experienced, but he had never seen these two marks at all.

Ding Aqin refused to believe it and stared for a long while, but it was useless: let alone recognizing them, she couldn't even tell what these two marks meant.

Li Zhen was the same; after one look, she stopped talking.

Fang Jin was curious for a moment and took a couple of looks with Tao An, then silently retreated to the side.

The two Appraisers who had been hired were the same: the reason they didn't come over to look was because they had already seen it before. Not only had they looked, but they had also studied it for a long time and even consulted many Experts.

But it was useless; Oracle Bone Script, Bronze Script, Seal Script... they had consulted every Expert they could think of, yet not one could explain it.

Since they didn't know, they might as well keep their mouths shut.

Seeing a group of people gathered together, none of them speaking, Ye Anlan approached with a strange expression. She first looked at the bottom of the plate, then looked around, then looked at the bottom of the plate again, and then looked around again.

Was it haunted?

It was as if this porcelain plate had some kind of magic; everyone who looked at it went silent, one after another?

"Anning, what's wrong with them?"

"They've encountered something they don't recognize."

"Ah?" Ye Anlan was stunned, "Doesn't that mean there's a problem with this item?"

There were many people in her family who liked to collect, her father being one of them, and he had paid his fair share of "tuition fees." So Ye Anlan understood a little: no matter how old an item was, as long as there was something one couldn't understand or couldn't figure out through Artifact Research, then the item should not be bought.

But Ye Anning didn't speak: for others, perhaps that was the case. But for Lin Sicheng, it wasn't necessarily so.

This item must be a bit strange, otherwise he wouldn't have looked for so long, and he certainly wouldn't have let everyone take a turn.

Just as she was pondering this, Lin Sicheng picked up the plate: "Manager, how much?"

The Manager was actually stumped by the question: if it were Guangcai Porcelain returned from abroad, or coat-of-arms porcelain customized by European nobles during the mid-Qing period, this plate would have to cost at least three or four hundred thousand.

If calculated as Gold-traced Five-colored Porcelain produced in Jingdezhen, not to mention doubling it, it would at least go up by half: five hundred to six hundred thousand.

The problem was, it had to be a famous and well-known European noble family. And for this one, let alone knowing which family the coat of arms belonged to, they didn't even know which country it belonged to.

What's more: the bottom of the plate had two marks that no one recognized, and they were even stamped on the edge?

It was truly neither fish nor fowl, neither one thing nor another. It would be good if it could sell for twenty percent of the price.

It was truly hard to name a price, so the Manager looked at Yao Qiming, meaning to ask what to do.

But Yao Qiming didn't move, as if he hadn't seen it.

He was only responsible for the authenticity of the items, just making sure these people didn't get scammed.

This piece was certainly real, at least old enough, and the craftsmanship was definitely not bad; that was enough.

And having run the shop for so many years and been a Manager for so many years, the Manager had self-awareness: this item wouldn't sell for a high price even if it sat there for another ten years. So, he definitely wouldn't ask for an unreasonable amount...

After hesitating for a long while, the Manager held up his hand and flipped it back and forth twice: "One hundred thousand!"

He really didn't dare to ask for an unreasonable amount, hoping to make at least a little profit. However, the Manager was already prepared: if the other party wanted to haggle, he would lower it a bit more, down to the cost price. It was better than letting it sit in the shop gathering dust...

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Sicheng took out his wallet: "Swipe the card!"

The Manager was stunned: Huh?

To tell the truth, this wasn't the first time he had asked for one hundred thousand, but the fact that the item was still sitting safely in the shop explained everything.

He hadn't expected this person to be so straightforward?

With these thoughts turning in his mind, he hurriedly called over the finance officer: collect the money, issue the invoice, and sign the Contract.

The plate was sitting right on the table, and Ye Anqi narrowed her eyes: "One hundred thousand... Sicheng, is it worth it?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "It is!"

And it was not just worth it in the ordinary sense: because this was a piece of Lang Kiln Porcelain.

To put it simply: it was from the Imperial Kiln exclusively supplied to the palace during the late Kangxi and Yongzheng periods...