Yuan Wang Meng Di Yan 65×34.41 cm
287.5 million yuan China Guardian auction on November 30, 2023
1. Ask softly again, is spring coming?
On December 26, 2022, the National Health Commission of China promulgated Announcement No. 7 of 2022 to rename the novel coronavirus pneumonia as novel coronavirus infection, and with the approval of the State Council, from January 8, 2023, the prevention and control measures for Class A infectious diseases stipulated in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases adopted for the novel coronavirus infection will be lifted, and the novel coronavirus infection will no longer be included in the management of quarantine infectious diseases under the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China. After three years of hard fighting, life returned to normal.
As in all industries, the spring of the long-tempered auction of cultural relics and artworks is coming. Did you catch it?
2023 was a year of extra work, with some auction houses having to operate three large-scale auctions due to the postponement of the 2022 autumn auctions. On January 23, 2024, Artron Art Research Institute released the "2023 China Cultural Relics and Artworks Auction Market Report" at the "Continue to Move Forward, Create Change and Win-Win - 2024 Art Development Forum" hosted by Beijing Business Daily and Beijing Auction Industry Association. Seeing the theme of "continuing to move forward", I don't know what it means without learning ancient Chinese or looking up the dictionary! Or the people associated with the auction of cultural relics and artworks are very knowledgeable, and the writing method of "fennel beans" reflects the noble grandeur and far-reaching unfathomability of "continuation, continuity". "Geng Continuation" comes from the Tang Dynasty Dunhuang song "Emperor Sense": "The first emperor burned it all out without a way, and it was hidden in the wall of the immortals." Pick up the old text and damage it, Confucius Geng continued to be quite coincidental. Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty also has the preface to "Zhou Liyi": "Its law can be applied to future generations, and its text can be seen in the book, which is not comparable to the book of "Zhou Guan". Gai Qi is used to worship it, and it will continue to end, and as for the future generations, it cannot be added. ”
In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin dressed like a generalissimo of the army and navy to commemorate the silver coin pattern
17.25 million yuan Beijing Chengxuan auction on May 22, 2023
According to the Artron report, which is based on the data of nearly 50 auction companies, the domestic art market will basically return to its former vigor and vitality in 2023, and the auction market will rise sharply year-on-year: 220,000 sets will be auctioned, 135,000 sets will be sold, and the turnover will be 40.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31%. In addition to the shrinkage in the price and turnover of works with more than 100 million yuan, other price ranges have increased to varying degrees, especially the number of works below 50,000 yuan increased by 75% year-on-year, and 12 works with more than 100 million yuan, the same as the number in 2022. The auction turnover of Chinese calligraphy and painting was 16.1 billion yuan, the turnover of porcelain miscellaneous items was 13.7 billion yuan, and the turnover of oil painting and contemporary art market was 7.7 billion yuan. These three categories accounted for 93% of the market, of which Chinese painting and calligraphy increased from 32% in the previous year to 40%, porcelain miscellaneous accounted for 33% to 34%, and oil painting and contemporary art accounted for 19% from 27%. In 2023, the domestic art market will become more diversified in terms of art transactions and display forms, the digitalization of the art market will develop rapidly, and "instant purchase" will become a new business model for auction houses, and the "primary marketization" of auction houses will provide more ways for auction houses to promote art transactions.
Qing Qianlong Pink and blue glazed bas-relief five dragons plum vase 35.3 cm high
HK$47.64 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong on October 9, 2023
Artron Report looks forward to the domestic art market in 2024: it will still face great downward pressure, and auction companies will still face challenges such as difficulty in solicitation, high cost pressure, and contradiction between market supply and demand. However, the market activity will be greatly improved, the art market will develop steadily in integrity and innovation, and specialization, diversification and digitalization will continue to be the main theme of market development.
Second, the rumors disturbed the flower gods, and Zhao Cui's argument "Yongfen" rose
Kangxi Twelve Flowers God Cup is a famous product of Kangxi official kiln, a set of 12 pieces, there are two kinds of blue and white decorations, blue and white colorful decorations, the outer wall is painted daffodils, spring flowers, peach blossoms, peony flowers, pomegranate flowers, lotus, orchids, osmanthus, chrysanthemums, hibiscus flowers, moon flowers and plum blossoms, a cup of a flower and inscription poems, corresponding to 12 months of a year. Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Guangxu, and the Republic of China all have imitations. Kangxi Twelve Flowers Cup has repeatedly sky-high prices: on June 6, 2017, Kangxi Colorful Twelve Flowers Cup recorded 23.92 million yuan in Beijing Poly, and on October 19, 2020, Kangxi Colorful December Flower God Cup was sold at Beijing Poly for 132.8 million yuan, according to reports, this set of cups was auctioned at Sotheby's New York on September 23, 1997 for 706,500 US dollars, and was acquired by the well-known collector Shimian Lingbi Mountain Residence. However, the Kangxi Blue and White Colorful Twelve Flowers God Cup, which will be auctioned in December 2023, was unexpectedly cold.
Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty Yangcai rouge rolling road through the scenery "Eight Immortals Celebrate Birthday" the country and the mountains are unified
The height is 47.5 cm, the height of the porcelain base is 7.9 cm, and it is 50.6 million yuan
Beijing Poly auction on December 14, 2023
Rampant fakes have shattered the confidence of collector investors. A Kangxi blue and white colorful twelve flower god cup of a porcelain master in Jingdezhen who imitated the official kiln of the Ming and Qing dynasties was sold in the Douyin live broadcast room. The imitations that are almost real are puzzling: How much porcelain from the official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties, including the Kangxi Twelve Flower God Cup, was imitated, and how much of it went to the market? After all, money does not come in the wind, and no one wants to be killed to help the poor. This kind of master is not in the single digits in Jingdezhen, and the buyers' perception has not kept pace with the times. What's even more terrifying is that the real thing that I bought before may be imitations. In recent years, the imitation of the official kiln of the late Qing Dynasty has silenced the collection investors, which is really "don't stretch out your hand, you will be deceived if you stretch out your hand".
It has been said that experts can be relied upon for collection investment, and it turns out that experts are not omnipotent.
"Dutch Brother Zhao" and "Hongshe Cui Kai" are the new and old fetal glazes of a pastel porcelain plate with floral figure pattern for export in the Yongqian period of the Qing Dynasty, and the plate was disputed on the Douyin platform as an "Internet celebrity plate". The consensus is that the porcelain tire is the Yongzheng Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and the difference is that "Hongshe Cui Kai" thinks that it is the old tire and adds color, and "Dutch Zhao Ge" thinks that it is the original old color.
This porcelain plate depicts two Chinese courtyard ladies, and for these "two women", Wu Pei, a collector of export porcelain, launched the "Export Porcelain Seminar" on September 6, 2023, which was held at the Rugao Museum in Jiangsu. The seminar specially invited Qian Weipeng, consultant of Nanjing Museum, Cao Jianwen, professor of Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jin Liyan, ancient ceramics scholar, Zhang Zhi, executive director of the collection group Jiaqu Yaji, Lu Jie, a porcelain identification expert in Henan Satellite TV's "Huayu Gate" column, and other experts, scholars, connoisseurs and collectors to express their opinions - Wu Pei, who lived in Belgium, and "Dutch Brother Zhao" made a special trip back from Europe. "Rugao Forum" was finally decided by vote, 13 participants, in addition to the "Dutch Zhao Ge" and "Hongshe Cui Kai" two parties, 11 people voted: 1 abstained, 10 people thought that the original original color. However, the controversy did not subside, and the parties decided to hand it over for auction to allow the market to test the authenticity.
The pastel ladies plate that caused a lot of discussion
The author is not familiar with the merchant "Dutch Brother Zhao" and the expert "Hongshe Cui Kai", and the "Internet celebrity plate" has not yet been used. It is rumored in the industry that "Dutch Brother Zhao" is an elegant gentleman, behaves in a disciplined manner, and has been in the industry for many years, and there are not only millions of treasures in the live broadcast room, but also thousands of yuan of general products, with more than 10,000 fans. "Hongshe Cui Kai" was hired as a porcelain group appraisal expert by Henan Satellite TV's "Huayu Gate", Shaanxi Satellite TV's "Huashan Commentary" and other TV columns, and once saw the video circulating on the Internet, "Hongshe Cui Kai" said to the collector holding the "Ru kiln": "If this thing is right, I will compensate you 10 million", and the collector said: "10 million? This is 300 million things." "Hongshe Cui Kai" immediately responded: "I will compensate you 300 million!" This just shows his character. The fans of the "Ting Cui faction" and the "Ting Zhao faction" stand on their own side and do not give in to each other, and there are many more people who support Cui Kai, after all, he is an Internet celebrity in the antique industry with more than 900,000 fans.
Now, in the Douyin live broadcast room, "Hongshe Cui Kai" is still auctioning sonorously, and "Dutch Brother Zhao" calmly tells his favorite things. In the author's opinion, the biggest winners are those who abstained, followed by "Dutch Brother Zhao" and "Hongshe Cui Kai" who got traffic.
Because the relevant people want to continue to discuss, and suggest that the "net red plate" color material should be tested by instruments, the auction was suspended. In fact, the collection is already mixed, and it is normal to have different voices.
As for saying that this seminar is hype, it is nonsense! "Brother Zhao of the Netherlands" and "Cui Kai of Hongshe" are not following the same road. As the saying goes: two people are not on the same track.
It is worth thinking about the fact that the two parties to the dispute did not submit the matter to the state-owned cultural and museum appraisal agency for a "final word". In addition to the subjective interests of "referring to the deer as a horse" and not knowing how to pretend to understand "Mr. Dongguo", such an ordinary Qing Dynasty export porcelain plate can actually cause a group of experts and experts to gather together to discuss. These people are not only cultural and museum workers in the system, but also experts in the market, and it is still difficult to determine which is right and which is wrong. Fortunately, the cultural relics department is promoting the construction of the cultural relics appraisal system, the public welfare cultural relics appraisal services are developing steadily, and the instrument testing application and database construction are accelerating. It is believed that in the near future, the state-owned cultural relics appraisal institutions will become the leading force in the field of social cultural relics and artwork appraisal, and drive the gradual and orderly construction of multi-level and diversified cultural relics appraisal.
Third, the commission was lowered, and the spring rain came with the summer thunder
On February 3, 2024, Sotheby's announced a new fee model: reducing buyer commissions, eliminating the operating surcharge originally borne by buyers, and standardizing seller commissions. It is reported that in 1975, Christie's took the lead in charging 10% commission to buyers, in 1979 Sotheby's charged buyers' commissions, and since the 1990s, Christie's and Sotheby's have charged sellers' commissions and raised buyers' commissions many times, and this time Sotheby's has the largest commission adjustment plan in more than 40 years.
Sotheby's commission adjustment should be a combination of market pressure and customer competition, which is also a footnote to the state of the market in 2023.
Lower commissions, whether it's for buyers to spend less or for buyers to focus on bidding, show that a "buyer's market" is far from here. The "battle for customers" will not intensify. So far, Christie's has not followed up, and Sotheby's is always on the move. There will not be many "new customers" who go to Sotheby's because of the commission reduction. And in front of top customers, the terms are negotiable, as in this change.
The commissions of mainland auction houses are lower than those of Sotheby's and Christie's, but this does not mean that mainland auction houses can stay out of the situation, which will inevitably affect the attention of mainland buyers and the company's decision-making.
When buyers reap culture with real money with a reverent heart, what is most needed is light and integrity, no fraud, no hypocrisy, no evil. Unfortunately, the muddy water in the market has extinguished the conscience of many people.
Fourth, by asking which one is strong in deception, the shepherd boy refers to the "Red Flower Lang"
At the beginning of 2023, there was a rumor among acquaintances in the industry that a young talent in the auction industry had an accident, which gradually fermented on the Internet. This is a story of "inspirational, deceiving, starting a business, and collecting money". The fuse of the incident is a red glazed gold bottle imitating the official kiln of the Qing Dynasty, which is visually similar in appearance to the pure low-temperature red and 24K gold placer gold burnt bright gold edge wine bottle used in the Honghualang wine produced by the Sichuan Gulin Lang Distillery, so it is called "Honghualang".
On December 22, 2023, the WeChat public account "Olivia Art Talk" with the IP address "Hong Kong, China" published "A Shocking Case in the Art Circle! After My Dad Was Cheated of Nine Figures: Exposing the Fraud of an "Art Auction Consultant"", and the five-day follow-up issue "Questions and Answers on Art Fraud Cases". Self-professed to receive
Olivia Li, the author of "The Victim's Family", said that Q, who was a senior business manager at a first-line auction company, "cooperated with auction houses, consignors and middlemen to conduct fake auctions, and repeatedly maliciously raised prices to make huge profits." Subsequently, on January 4, 2024, the WeChat public account "Hi Art" published an exclusive interview with Li Na, the manager of Olivia Art Talky, with the title of "The Trap of Collection, the Lesson of Being Defrauded of 300 Million". The case is still under investigation. Such a big case involves a huge chain of interests such as the person who made the counterfeit, the person who packaged it, the person who sent it to auction, the person who topped the price, and the person who lobbied the victim to participate in the auction, and it may also involve other cases. If it had happened to most people, it would have been left to fend for itself long ago, and the victim would have had deep connections. The so-called "Skynet is magnificent, negligent but not leaky" is just chicken soup for comforting people's souls.
We sincerely hope to take this opportunity to amend the relevant laws and hold all parties involved in the auction of counterfeit goods accountable. It is also believed that this case can become a turning point and milestone in the development of the mainland's cultural relics and art auction market.
Fifth, the "Gangcheng Ancient Spring" was full of tears, and the "Red Flower Lang" wanted to break their souls
There are also frequent people on the online auction platform, appearing on the police report and verdict.
A few years ago, a shop in Weipaitang that auctioned ancient coins live was seized by the public security organs. This store in the Northeast is famous for its "tube" to open a Tongbao, and it is even more famous that when the proprietress broadcasts live, she does not forget to promote the authenticity and originality of her own store's "tube", and also teaches people how to distinguish the "tube" of other people's stores.
The front wave is always slapped on the beach by the back wave. Registered in 2017, "Gangcheng Guquan" has achieved the head of the ancient coins of Weipaitang in a short period of time, with countless local tyrant fans, and the live broadcast room is full of V9, V10, and V11 level fans, sales champions, daily income millions, and the king of traffic in the currency circle. Get a strong push, quickly gather high-priced goods, and quickly change hands. The heavyweights in the ancient numismatic world frequently passed by, and the transaction price led the market, stirring up the ancient coin circle, but it disappeared one day in April 2021 and the store was emptied. It is rumored that he was "invited in for tea".
The Zhangjiagang Municipal People's Court's 2022 (Su) 0582 Xingchu No. 151 Criminal Verdict circulated on the Internet confirmed the rumors. The court held that from 2018 to April 2021, Zhang, who did not have the qualification to operate and sell cultural relics, sold 47 ancient coins involved in the case, with a transaction amount of more than 330 yuan, and committed the crime of reselling cultural relics, and was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison and fined 200,000 yuan in the first instance. There were 4,018 items involved in the case, including 1 bronze medal of the second-class cultural relics of Shijin Sizhu and 1 third-class cultural relics of the Chu Jin version of Yingzhan, 1 silver Xiwang Gonggong, and 1 Yidaoping 5,000. In addition, 7 third-level cultural relics were seized at Zhang's business location, including the copper belt hook of the dragon head cow pattern of the Warring States Period, the arc mirror of the Han Dynasty, the grape mirror of the sea beast of the Tang Dynasty, the bronze mirror of Feiluan of the Tang Dynasty and the reward money of the West King. Zhang's sentence was for reselling second- and third-class cultural relics, and more than 4,000 items identified as ordinary cultural relics, and in the absence of evidence to prove that the source was illegal, it could not be identified as cultural relics prohibited by the state from being sold, and was not included in the basis for conviction.
The last straw that crushed Zhang was his online sale of "Xiwang Reward" coins. People in the cultural relics collection industry know that the Xiwang reward money is likely to come out of the Sichuan Jiangkou, and the Pengshan Jiangkou treasure theft case is known as the first case of cultural relics in the country in 2016. Zhang thought that it would become a "legal coin" if it was graded by a well-known rating agency, but he didn't know that it had become ironclad evidence.
Looking at the two market bulls of "Honghualang" and "Gangcheng Guquan", the "Honghualang" should be a gang, and tens of millions of fakes are playing in the palm of their hands. "Gangcheng Ancient Spring" should be broadcast live by several people in rotation, and there are also guests to help broadcast, so that Weipaitang, China's largest cultural relics and artwork e-commerce platform, talks about "Hong Kong" color change. The two gangs have made dazzling "achievements" online and offline, and the "Honghualang" are not all fakes, and the "Gangcheng Guquan" is not all genuine.
The "Honghualang" case makes it easy to sell porcelain with more than one million yuan in the auction market after 2023 if it has a true source and provenance. The "Gangcheng Ancient Spring" case has put everyone in the difficult ancient coin collection and business circle in danger. The legal definition of cultural relics crimes is very clear, as long as someone reports it, once it is verified, they must "step on the sewing machine". In recent years, there have been cases of criminal sentences in Lin'an, Zhejiang, Baoding, Hebei, Henan and Beijing, and those who do this kind of business are always full of risks.
Although there are many shops in the market with a certain cultural relics store brand, there are no formal cultural relics management rights, and today's Douyin, Kuaishou, Weipaitang, Xianyu, Huaxia Garden and other e-commerce platforms, all have cases of crazy swinging around the red line, and a certain platform has also blocked hundreds of accounts selling fakes a day. One thing is certain, the investigation and handling of the "Honghualang" case has the most thorough and shocking impact on the cultural relics and art auction market in the past 30 years, and it is also an opportunity for the market to improve itself and be reborn. Of course, there is a great possibility that "Honghualang" is gone and "Luhualang" and "Huanghualang" are coming, so let's just wait to tear it down and start over.
(References are omitted, please log in to CNKI homepage - Publication Search - Cultural Relics World to download the full text)
The author and his affiliation: Wang Zhijun, Beijing Cultural Relics Exchange Center
This article was published in Heritage World, Issue 4, 2024
Submission/Manuscript/Mail/Mailbox
Editor: Nguyen Phu Xuan
Review: Zhu Wei
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