Since the Spring and Autumn Warring States, antique collectors have appeared on the mainland. If there is a collection, there will be interests, and if there are interests, there will be imitation, and if there is imitation, there will be a identification of authenticity. So, museum staff, antique dealers, who has the most say in determining the authenticity of antiques?
Let's start with collectors and antique dealers, whose main problem in antiques is to identify authenticity, because every time they look at them, they pay a heavy price of at least a lot of money. There are some antique collectors, even for decades as they have been hiding for decades, through continuous observation, touching, contrasting, feeling, even in their sleep, so that they have a special perception of the authenticity of cultural relics, just like only biological parents can accurately judge the identity of twin children by getting along day and night.
In addition, the antique knowledge that collectors in the mainland master for themselves is often passed down from generation to generation, and will not be taught to the outside world, for fear of provoking a disaster of blood and light. From ancient times to the present, few real collectors will participate in events such as public treasure hunting conventions, and only half a bottle of vinegar will wander around. Their knowledge and secrets for identifying authenticity have been accumulated and passed down through generations or even generations, which makes them have a high degree of accuracy in identifying authenticity and falsity.
Next, let's look at archaeological research and museum experts. The direction of their research is mainly the excavation, restoration and protection of cultural relics, as well as the cultural characteristics, technological characteristics, and processing methods contained in cultural relics.
They are indeed experts in the cultural and historical interpretation of cultural relics. But most of the artifacts they came into contact with were unearthed artifacts with clear provenance and there was no need to identify authenticity. When they are engaged in research, they will also try to avoid using the folk collection of cultural relics as the object of materials, because once there is a misjudgment, it will make the paper no longer rigorous.
Therefore, in reality, few archaeological research and museum experts will spend a lot of energy to study the authenticity of antiques, and their titles do not need to be obtained through authenticity identification. In addition, when museum experts conduct research on the subject, they often need to go through some cumbersome procedures to contact cultural relics, and some cultural relics are not allowed to be touched with bare hands at all.
Some experts even study one or more cultural relics for more than ten years or decades, or only study a specific field, such as restoration, craftsmanship, conservation, etc., and do not really study the authenticity of these cultural relics. Of course, there are also masters of very accurate eyesight among museum experts, such as Mr. Geng Baochang, but a large part of his eyesight comes from his apprenticeship in antique shops since childhood, not just from his museum career.
Therefore, although archaeologists and museum experts usually have more opportunities to contact antiquities and have a stronger understanding of the authenticity of cultural relics than ordinary people, their level is still far worse than that of antique collectors.
The expert's specialty is the interpretation of culture and the deciphering of cultural relics, while the collector's expertise is to identify the authenticity of cultural relics. At present, we can buy books related to cultural relics written by many experts, which are of great help to us understand ancient culture and cultural relics knowledge, and can also help collectors improve their understanding and cognitive level of cultural relics.
So, is it impossible for ordinary antique lovers to enter the antique circle? Not really. Tibetan friends who do not know very well can look for familiar connoisseurs or reliable identification platforms to help them palm their eyes. You can also improve your ability to identify antiques by looking more, learning more, and identifying more. There is no shortcut to learning antique identification, the only way is to see more old goods, compare and learn old goods and new goods, and slowly increase your eyesight.
I hope that one day, antiques can enter thousands of households and become daily necessities, connoisseurs and investment products that the general public can buy with confidence.