Seemingly feeling that his confession wasn't direct enough, Ezkena thought for a moment and then said, "Some of these pieces in my collection came from your homeland. Of course, I won't hide it; the methods used weren't honorable. Zhuang, we're friends now, so I can consider giving you some of these porcelain pieces free of charge." "Give me some?"
Zhuang Rui wondered if he had misheard. He turned his gaze to Ezkena. These items, worth hundreds of thousands, were just given away like that?
Ezkena nodded and said firmly, "Of course, to compensate for the harm my ancestors caused to the Chinese people, I can arrange to send you a batch of such porcelain. However... Zhuang, I hope you can understand that items on the list I gave you cannot be given to you, because there are other heirs in my family. Exchange is possible, but as for gifts, I will not allow them to agree..."
“I understand, of course I understand. On behalf of my museum, I thank you for your generosity. As a friend, I won't put you in a difficult position in front of your family, Mr. Ezkener. Rest assured, our transaction will make you a true international collector…”
Zhuang Rui wanted to hug and kiss Ezkena right then and there. This guy was so particular! Although these porcelains weren't very valuable on the market right now, they were all genuine Qing Dynasty imperial porcelains.
With the Chinese antique market heating up, it's normal for prices to increase tenfold or more in a few years. Zhuang Rui didn't expect Ezkena to be so generous, offering to give away a batch right off the bat. If Fatty Jin and the others found out, wouldn't they be green with envy?
However, Zhuang Rui doesn't know what the market will be like in a few years, but for now, this batch of porcelain is absolutely crucial to his museum.
In fact, Zhuang Rui was unaware that in foreign countries, some private collectors often donate their collections to national museums, while others donate them to private museums, without charging any fees or returns. Although these people's actions are hard to understand, this is indeed a real phenomenon.
"Alright, Mr. Zhuang, you can now choose the porcelain pieces that interest you..."
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Ezkena knew that his actions had truly won Zhuang Rui's friendship.
For Ezkenard, if he were to put all these porcelain pieces up for auction, he estimated that it would destroy the market. Even if he auctioned them off slowly, he probably wouldn't be able to sell them all in his lifetime.
Giving away a hundred or so pieces is not a big deal; Ezkener's grandfather once donated thousands of pieces of Chinese porcelain to the British Museum.
After expressing his gratitude to Ezkena again, Zhuang Rui turned his attention to the porcelain pieces displayed on the shelf.
Although most of the porcelain pieces were not on display, there were already thousands of pieces on the surface alone.
Chapter 667 The Treasure Room (Part 2)
Walking among the rows of shelves filled with exquisite porcelain, Zhuang Rui felt as if he had stepped into the imperial workshops of the ancient palace, as if time had shifted back hundreds of years, with countless people dressed in ancient clothes bustling about before his eyes.
The production process of Chinese porcelain is extremely complicated. The creation of a fine piece of porcelain requires countless steps. With the changing of dynasties throughout history, it can be said that every piece of porcelain hides a story. So many pieces of porcelain are a living history.
Zhuang Rui released the spiritual energy in his eyes, and everywhere he looked, there were colors of white, yellow, red, and purple. He didn't need to observe them deliberately; the colors of the spiritual energy in the porcelain were reflected in Zhuang Rui's eyes. Zhuang Rui vaguely felt that the spiritual energy in his eyes seemed to have become more active.
Whether it was because there were too many antiques or for some other reason, these spaces filled with porcelain seemed to be filled with spiritual energy. As soon as the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes left his body, it merged into the energy.
"Is it about to evolve again?"
Sensing the stirring of spiritual energy, Zhuang Rui was both surprised and delighted.
Zhuang Rui gave a name to each change in the spiritual energy in his eyes: evolution. Because the quality of the spiritual energy in his eyes seemed to be getting higher and higher, it seemed difficult to absorb it from other antiques. So after returning from Myanmar, he had been stagnant.
Although his eyes had undergone several strange changes, Zhuang Rui still couldn't figure out any pattern. Each time it happened so abruptly that Zhuang Rui was helpless and could only wait for the spiritual energy in his eyes to merge with the omnipresent spiritual energy in this space before returning to his eyes.
Last time in the Pagoda Forest in Myanmar, he sat there for an entire afternoon. Zhuang Rui was afraid that if he stood there like an idiot for an entire afternoon, things would get a bit complicated. So he tried to see if he could recall his spiritual energy.
To Zhuang Rui's surprise, the spiritual energy, following his will, instantly separated from the spiritual energy of this space and returned to his eyes.
As the spiritual energy entered his eyes, Zhuang Rui felt as if his eyes were being washed with warm water, an exceptionally comfortable sensation that made him involuntarily groan softly.
Two or three minutes later, Zhuang Rui opened his eyes again. After releasing his spiritual energy, he found that it could no longer absorb and integrate the rich energy in the space, and it seemed that nothing had changed.
"how so?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment, then looked into the distance. The spiritual energy in his eyes immediately passed through the thick walls of the castle and came to the outside. Zhuang Rui saw Qin Xuanbing walking with the white lion, accompanied by the butler.
The white lion was particularly sensitive to the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes. When the spiritual energy got close, it couldn't help but sneeze, then broke free from Qin Xuanbing's hand and looked suspiciously at the air in front of it. It sensed Zhuang Rui's presence, but couldn't see him, so it couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
Seeing the white lion's actions, Zhuang Rui quickly used his spiritual energy to circle around the white lion's body, and then withdrew his spiritual energy while the white lion was comfortably shaking its head.
"This...is it about 100 meters away?"
After Zhuang Rui withdrew his gaze, his face was filled with surprise. Although his spiritual energy had not advanced, the distance he could release it had increased from 30 meters to 100 meters, more than three times the previous distance.
However, now is not a good time to observe spiritual energy. Zhuang Rui was thinking of signing an agreement with Ezkena to exchange collections tomorrow after Peng Fei arrived. He had been abroad for more than a week and was starting to miss home.
Zhuang Rui's dazed state didn't last long. From Ezkena's perspective, Zhuang Rui seemed completely captivated by the sea of porcelain. Such a reaction upon encountering something he liked was perfectly understandable. ...
Coming to his senses, Zhuang Rui began to examine the porcelain on the shelf. Due to the sheer number of pieces, he had neither the time nor the ability to examine them all individually. So, he simply used his spiritual energy to distinguish the intensity of the colors in the porcelain, focusing only on those pieces with purple spiritual energy.
"A carved plum vase from the Ding kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty..."
Suddenly, Zhuang Rui's eyes lit up as a plum vase with a slender neck, small mouth, and large belly came into view.
"The Five Great Kilns..."
Zhuang Rui sighed inwardly as he carefully took the plum vase, which was about 40 centimeters tall, down from the shelf.
White Ding porcelain is considered the pinnacle of white porcelain produced during the Song Dynasty. This plum vase is entirely milky white, with an extremely pure color that has not yellowed over time.
The glaze of the plum vase has a glossy appearance between glassy and opaque. The carved and incised lines on the vase are strong, vigorous, and smooth, with a sparse layout. The lines are mostly parallel with one wide and one narrow line, which is a unique style of porcelain carving in the Northern Song Dynasty.
This was also the first time Zhuang Rui had seen a complete set of porcelain from the five famous kilns. If it were in China, this plum vase would definitely be considered a national first-class protected cultural relic, and it would be extremely rare even among the many cultural relics in museums in China.
After Zhuang Rui put the plum vase back, he said to Ezkena behind him, "Mr. Ezkena, this plum vase can be used as collateral for our transaction..."
“No problem,” Ezkener answered readily. Although this piece of porcelain was considered a fine piece in his collection, it was nothing compared to Picasso’s works.
Walking along these wooden frames, which were about 1.5 to 1.6 meters high, Zhuang Rui's eyes scanned the porcelain pieces like radar. After walking only five or six meters, he had already selected seven or eight pieces of porcelain.
Zhuang Rui had his eye on at least seventeen or eighteen pieces, but he understood that while Ezkena desired Picasso's works, these porcelain pieces also had a price. He couldn't be too greedy, which is why he reluctantly gave up several pieces he had his eye on.
In addition to the white porcelain plum vase that Zhuang Rui selected, there was also a Song Dynasty Jun ware bowl with purple spots, which was said to have "one color going into the kiln and ten thousand colors coming out of the kiln". Its colors were red with blue, intricately interspersed, colorful and extraordinary.
Other porcelain pieces belonging to the Song Dynasty kilns include a Southern Song Dynasty official kiln washer and a Southern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln celadon chrysanthemum petal tea cup. The other pieces are Ming Dynasty porcelain, including a Chenghua doucai tianzi jar, a Jiajing wucai fish and bath pattern jar, and a colorful Wanli wucai vase, among others.
Zhuang Rui estimated in his mind that these few pieces of porcelain were worth at least 200 million RMB, and they were the kind that were priceless and hard to find. In domestic auction houses, one might not see even one of these items for three to five years.
Especially the large Wanli polychrome dragon-patterned vase, although it is slightly later in date than these porcelain pieces, is extremely exquisite in its craftsmanship. The four sides are painted with lingzhi and dragon patterns in polychrome, with auspicious and celebratory designs. The blue-and-white regular script mark "Made in the Wanli period of the Great Ming Dynasty" on the bottom of the vase is neat and well-preserved.
These porcelain pieces can all be considered national first-class cultural relics. It should be noted that even among the millions of items in the Palace Museum's collection, only a little over 1,000 have been designated as national first-class cultural relics.
Seeing that Ezkena's expression remained unchanged and he didn't change his mood because of the items Zhuang Rui had chosen, Zhuang Rui calmed down a little. He couldn't bear to give up any of the items he had selected.
"Mr. Ezkener, why are the Yuan blue and white porcelains listed in your inventory not here?"
When Zhuang Rui reached the end of the wooden shelf, he still hadn't seen the Yuan blue-and-white porcelain he had been looking forward to, so he couldn't help but ask.
Although the Yuan Dynasty lasted only a little over a hundred years, Yuan blue and white porcelain holds an irreplaceable position in the history of Chinese porcelain.
Yuan blue and white porcelain ushered in a new era of transition from plain porcelain to colored porcelain. It is magnificent and powerful, with a bold style, many layers of painting, exquisite production, and very few pieces have survived to the present day, making it extremely precious.
Zhuang Rui had never seen an authentic Yuan blue-and-white porcelain piece in any of the major museums he had visited in China, so seeing Yuan blue-and-white porcelain in the Ezkena collection really excited him for a long time.
"Hehe, Zhuang, you're an expert. The value of Yuan blue and white porcelain far exceeds that of the porcelain pieces you just selected..."
Ezkena smiled, took a few steps ahead of Zhuang Rui, and led him to the end of the wooden shelf. Zhuang Rui found that there was a cabinet that was only a little over a meter tall, and on it, there were only six pieces of porcelain, all of them blue and white porcelain.
Zhuang Rui was immediately drawn to the blue and white porcelain jar at the top. The jar was about 27 or 28 centimeters tall, with a plain base, a wide foot ring, a straight mouth, a short neck, a slightly thick lip, sloping shoulders, a round belly, which gradually widened below the shoulders and narrowed towards the belly, with a slightly flared bottom.
The main decorative motif on the porcelain jar is "Guiguzi Descending the Mountain," which depicts the story of Guiguzi, Sun Bin's teacher, agreeing to descend the mountain to rescue Sun Bin and Dugu Chen, famous generals of Qi, who were trapped by Yan, at the repeated request of Su Dai, an envoy from Qi.
The entire blue and white porcelain decoration is rich in color, full in composition, well-balanced in density and sparseness, with clear distinction between the main and secondary elements, forming a harmonious whole. The figures are depicted smoothly and naturally, full of charm, and the rocks are rendered with unrestrained and vivid brushstrokes, each stroke exquisite, making it a perfect piece.
“Mr. Ezkener, I’ll take this blue and white porcelain jar.”
Zhuang Rui's tone was very certain; even if it came with a few Picasso sketches, he was determined to bring this Yuan blue-and-white porcelain jar with figures back to China.
It is worth noting that among the very few surviving Yuan blue and white porcelain pieces, those depicting figures and stories are extremely rare. There are only eight known surviving Yuan blue and white porcelain jars with figures and stories, such as the "Guiguzi Descending the Mountain" jar, and none of them are in China.
If Zhuang Rui can bring this porcelain piece back to China, it will definitely cause a sensation in the domestic collecting world, and it will also be beneficial to the opening of his museum.
“Zhuang, as you know, this kind of Yuan blue and white porcelain with figures is extremely rare. I only have this one…”
For the first time, a look of embarrassment appeared on Ezkena's face.
Chapter 668 The Transaction is Completed
Although not explicitly stated, Ezkener had conveyed his meaning: Zhuang Rui's six Picasso figure sketches alone were insufficient to acquire so many porcelain pieces.
“Mr. Ezkener, we are friends, and I will not let you suffer a loss. How about this, this Yuan blue and white porcelain with figures, plus this blue and white porcelain jar with fish pattern, and I will also take out six Picasso sketches, what do you think?”
The blue-and-white porcelain jar with fish pattern that Zhuang Rui mentioned is a piece of porcelain placed next to the Guiguzi blue-and-white porcelain. This piece of porcelain is decorated with a pattern of four fish playing in the water: mackerel, silver carp, bighead carp, and mandarin fish.
Zhuang Rui knew that in Chinese culture, the four fish—mackerel, whitebait, silver carp, and mandarin fish—are homophones for the four characters "清 (qing, meaning pure), 白 (bai, meaning white), 廉 (lian, meaning honest), 洁 (jie, meaning clean)."
In addition, there are peony scrolls on the shoulder of the jar and auspicious lotus petal patterns on the foot. The mouth of the jar has wave patterns unique to the 14th century, the shoulder has peony patterns, and the bottom of the jar has auspicious cloud treasure box with patterns of lingzhi, conch, coins, flames and other designs.
Although it is not as valuable as the Guiguzi Yuan blue and white porcelain jar, this fish-patterned jar is still a fine example of Yuan blue and white porcelain. It has a rich purple aura inside, and few pieces in Zhuang Rui's collection can compare to it.
"Bring out six more Picasso works?"
Ezkena's eyes lit up for a moment, but then he said, "Zhuang, this Yuan blue and white porcelain is no less valuable than that blue and white porcelain with figures. What do you think..."
Zhuang Rui smiled wryly upon hearing this, and said, "Dear Mr. Ezkener, although there aren't many Yuan blue and white porcelains in existence, the number of fish-patterned jars seems to be greater than that figure-figure blue and white porcelain. I know of no fewer than twenty of them. The value of these two pieces is incomparable..."
There are indeed a few fish-patterned jars in some museums in China. Although Zhuang Rui has never seen them, he knows where they are.
After a pause, Zhuang Rui continued, "Mr. Ezkener, three years ago at a Paris auction, a fivesketchbook by Picasso sold for $12 million. Now that three years have passed, you should know how much the twelve sketches I've brought out will be worth, right?"
If Zhuang Rui's statement is true, he could produce twelve sketches, enough to bind into at least two books. Given the current market value of Picasso's paintings, which are often priceless, these two sketchbooks would be worth at least $40 million, or around 300 million RMB.
Judging from the current market value of Yuan blue and white porcelain in the international auction market, this Guiguzi Descending the Mountain porcelain jar should be worth around 100 million RMB, while the fish pattern jar is much less valuable, at most around 20 million RMB. In comparison, even with the other seven or eight porcelain pieces, Ezkena seems to have gotten a better deal.
More importantly, the Picasso works in Zhuang Rui's possession are different from these Chinese porcelains. Chinese artworks often fail to sell at international auctions.
However, Ezkener knew that if Zhuang Rui put Picasso's sketches at auction, even if he offered $40 million, he might not be able to acquire them.
“Zhuang, just as you said, we are friends. I think this deal between us can be finalized…”
Ezkener was much more familiar with the prices of these items at international auctions than Zhuang Rui was. In terms of price, if we don't count the porcelain he promised to give to Zhuang Rui, he actually got a better deal.
Although Ezkener had received information that some people were planning to hype up Chinese porcelain in recent years, the hype hadn't even started yet. Ezkener's current thought was to get his hands on the Picasso piece first.
To prevent Zhuang Rui from changing his mind, Ezkener quickly added, "As a friend, dear Zhuang, I've decided to donate another 200 pieces of Chinese porcelain to enrich your soon-to-open museum. I hope you'll accept them..."
"200 pieces?"
Zhuang Rui smiled upon hearing this, extended his hand to Ezkena, and said, "Thank you. I think you can definitely become my good friend. I hope you can attend the opening of my museum..."
"Definitely, I've longed to visit the beautiful and mysterious China for a long time..."
Ezkena grasped Zhuang Rui's hand, and the two looked at each other and smiled. As for what they were thinking, only God knows.
To be fair, it's hard to say who lost out or gained in this transaction. The porcelain pieces Zhuang Rui selected were all top-quality Chinese porcelain, extremely rare both domestically and internationally, and their prices have been rising steadily over the years.
However, the Picasso sketches that Zhuang Rui presented are equally valuable and sought after by many international collectors. They are also works of art that appreciate in value. As for which will be more important in the future, no one can say for sure right now.
As for the 200 pieces of Chinese porcelain that Ezkenard brought, without seeing the actual items, Zhuang Rui found it difficult to assess their value. However, given Ezkenard's collection, it seemed rather difficult to find anything of questionable quality.