"23 million for the first time! Is there anyone else who wants to raise the price? ”
In 2011, at an auction in Beijing, the crowd was engaged in a fierce "competition", and the price was one after another, the lowest was also starting at 10,000, and 23 million was undoubtedly the highest bid today.
At this time, two mottled old chairs were placed upright on the auction table, without half a luster, like a pile of waste wood put together, quietly waiting for its final "owner".
"23 million twice!" The host's voice was louder than a sound, but everyone looked at each other and did not open their mouths.
"23 million three times! Deal! With the host's hammer, the two chairs were finally sold for 23 million, and the owner of the chair, Zhang Zhiyong, narrowed his smiling eyes into a slit.
To say why he was so happy, because these two chairs were picked up by him, and the broken chairs that had been piled up in the corner of the house for 29 years were auctioned off at such a sky-high price, he could wake up laughing even if he dreamed.
So what is so special about these two dilapidated chairs that they can be auctioned off at such a sky-high price? Where did Zhang Zhiyong pick up these two chairs?
Auction images (from the Internet)
The grandson wants to buy a house, and the old Man is sad
Zhang Zhiyong is an ordinary retired worker in Beijing's Chaoyang District, who worked in a textile factory in the early years, worked hard to raise his children to adulthood, and now he has finally reached the age of old age.
However, in 2011, Zhang Zhiyong, who should have been safe and stable at home, was sad. Their grandchildren are about to get married, and they have to prepare a new house for their children.
Lao Zhang looked at the rising housing prices in Beijing, and couldn't help but sigh and shake his head, difficult, it is too difficult!
Seeing that he could not help much, Lao Zhang could only find a way to save money and save some money for his family, and when he occasionally gathered with old friends, he mentioned two more sentences of nagging to express his dissatisfaction.
One day, Zhang Zhiyong came down to play chess and chat with his friends as usual, and everyone ridiculed: "Old Zhang, what a blessing, the grandchildren are getting married!" After saying this, the crowd laughed.
Zhang Zhiyong frowned: "Don't mention it, you can talk about the current house price?" Who dares to buy a house? Who can afford a house! Alas, seeing that I can't help it, I am nagged at home every day. ”
"Who says it's not? Now the house price is no better than we were then. Several old people nodded their heads in approval.
Several people complained, and Lao Zhang talked about the two broken chairs he had picked up that year, with a bitter face: "How many years has this been, my old wife has not forgotten this matter, a few days ago he also took it out and said it, how many years have you talked about this, why are you still worried about it?" ”
The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and one of the old men jokingly said: "What kind of antiques did you pick up back then, do you want to find an expert to see?" ”
Zhang Zhiyong knew that these people were joking with him, waved his hand and smiled and said: "It is impossible, if the antiques are so easy to pick up, then wouldn't the ones who collected the rags have already made a fortune?" ”
The image comes from the Internet
He said this, but Zhang Zhiyong really listened to these words in his heart, if it was really an antique, wouldn't Sun Tzu's house have fallen?
After returning home with a heavy heart, Zhang Zhiyong pulled his son over, pointed to two chairs, and said: "You quickly take a photo to show the experts, what kind of cultural relics are we?" ”
"Dad, which one are you playing again?" Zhang Zhiyong still remembered the way he looked when he came back with these two chairs, and even said that he would burn them when the firewood was burned, how could these two mottled and worn-out chairs be cultural relics?
When this sentence is said, I am afraid that no one will believe it.
Zhang Zhiyong was anxious: "Take a photo to try, and you won't suffer losses." ”
In desperation, his son had to take a photo and send it to Beijing Guardian Auction Company.
Within a few days, the son forgot about this matter, he felt that these two chairs were just picked up by his father, tattered, painted and finished, even if they were renovated by his father, it was just a broken chair, how to look like an antique, so he did not pay attention to it.
However, no one expected that the auction house actually called them back, and said on the phone that it would send experts to visit the door in person to determine whether the two chairs were cultural relics.
This made Zhang Zhiyong excited, and he said "I know" while carefully moving the two chairs over and cleaning up well.
After cleaning up, the chair is still a bleak and dull look, Zhang Zhiyong's son saw his father's excited look, although he still had some doubts in his heart, he was not willing to pour cold water on his father again.
Precious cultural relics were actually picked up in a garbage dump
Soon after, the experts came as promised, they took professional instruments, conducted a comprehensive study of the two old chairs up and down, and from the bare wood, they came to a surprising conclusion, which turned out to be a rare solid yellow rosewood.
The scientific name of huanghuali wood is called descending yellow sandalwood, which is mainly produced in the mainland's Hainan Province, and some of it is imported from abroad, and its preciousness is second only to rosewood.
Because of its yellow color, fine texture, and faint aroma, it was often used by literati to make furniture during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it was a good thing that was difficult to find at the moment.
The experts took a closer look at the carving, and judging by its pattern characteristics and color, this should be the "carved dragon pattern four-headed official hat chair" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
The four-headed official hat chair is named after the hat that resembles an official's hat, and the four-head is the two ends of the backrest chair and the front end of the left and right armrests, and the overall line is smooth, and the pillars of the backrest will be carved with patterns.
Four-year-old official hat chair
The experts were very excited, this is a real cultural relic, so they dragged Lao Zhang and began to ask about the provenance of the two official hats and chairs.
Zhang Zhiyong's statement shocked them even more, which turned out to be that he had "picked up" in the garbage heap 29 years ago.
In the early years, the antique market in Beijing city had a word called "picking up leaks", that is, buying valuable treasures at a very cheap price, once a "leak" was picked up, it was definitely a shortcut to "getting rich", so many people at that time were fascinated by collecting antiques.
In 1982, under the influence of friends, Zhang Zhiyong also gradually became fascinated by collecting "antiques", and from time to time he would go to the antique distribution center in old Beijing.
But Zhang Zhiyong rarely buys things, although the temptation of "picking up leaks" is extremely great, but he also knows that this is almost an unattainable thing, he only has the ability to read and hyphenate, and he wants to pick up a big leak in a variety of goods, which is simply a fool's dream.
Therefore, he generally watches others bargain or buy goods, and almost rarely mixes.
Beijing Antique Market
His main "leak-picking" location is the scrap station near the antique market, and every time he visits the antique market, he will go to see if there are any more practical "cultural relics" that have been abandoned.
Although the main purpose is still to "pick up leaks", when he encounters things such as books and scrap iron sheets that can be reused, he will also pocket them and then sell them.
Over time, the staff of the waste recycling station all got to know Zhang Zhiyong.
One day, after Zhang Zhiyong finished visiting the antique market, he came to the waste site according to the custom and rummaged through the boxes of waste products.
After half a day, Zhang Zhiyong cleaned up some old newspapers, waste cartons and other things, and some of them were marked with purchase time and other things.
Zhang Zhiyong skillfully packed all these waste products and prepared to pull them to the waste station for some money.
As a result, he had just packed up, and a middle-aged man riding a tricycle stopped in front of him.
I saw this person take down a few pieces of "broken wood" from the tricycle and asked, "Uncle, do you want two broken chairs?" Send it to you when you want it. ”
Zhang Zhiyong looked at the chair that could not sit anymore, the paint was almost gone, looked at the black, and waved his hand just ready to refuse.
The middle-aged man said, "It's useless to leave me here, you can still use it as firewood when you take it back." ”
Zhang Zhiyong thought about it for a moment, although the family is now burning coal, but these woods are also good for ignition, so he nodded and agreed.
He carefully looked at the two broken chairs, not only did the paint fall off, but even some of them were scattered, and the legs of the chairs were uneven, and it was impossible to sit people.
However, lao Zhang moved, this chair is still quite heavy, it should be solid wood, I thought that it must be convenient to burn the fire, so I took the trouble to move the two chairs back.
But who knows, just arrived home, Zhang Zhiyong was dropped by his wife: "The family is so small, what do you do when you move these things back?" Now every household burns coal, and these broken woods are not put on the ground, and the net occupies the place! ”
Zhang Zhiyong was full of grievances, he originally planned to listen to his wife throw away these two chairs, but the more he thought about it in his heart, the more angry he was, he gambled and left the chair behind, he just wanted his wife to see that these two chairs were indeed useful.
Say dry, Zhang Zhiyong began to find tools to repair the chair, fortunately, this chair is only scattered, the structure is not broken, after many days of repair, he finally spelled out this chair.
Although these two chairs are still not welcomed by his family, Zhang Zhiyong treats them as treasures, places them in the corner of his home, and sits on his own from time to time.
These two chairs are placed here for 29 years, during these 29 years Zhang Zhiyong repaired and repaired, the chair is a lot stronger, sitting people is no problem, but "selling" is still not good.
Lacking money to buy a house, Lao Zhang decided to auction
The experts of the auction house said that if the old man wanted to auction, they could help repair it, and now it is popular to collect antique furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and he can definitely sell it for a big price.
Zhang Zhiyong was impressed, he inquired in detail about the process and matters of the auction, and then discussed with his family for a while.
He was hesitating in his heart, but when he thought about his grandson's marriage and the housing prices in Beijing, Zhang Zhiyong gritted his teeth and replied to the auction house: "Okay, I decided to sell it." ”
Soon, the two chairs were repaired and moved to the auction table.
Although the restored official hat chair still looks mottled on the surface, it is much cleaner than in Zhang Zhiyong's home, and the chair is no longer as shaky as before, looking no different from an ordinary chair.
Since it was the time when Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was popular, on the day of the auction, more than 100 collectors participated in the auction, and the auction site was crowded, and everyone looked at the two chairs on the auction table, all determined to win.
In fact, because the antique market was not enthusiastic about furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties before, many antique furniture was thrown into the garbage collection station before it waited for his buyer, and Zhang Zhiyong picked up this "leak" by such a coincidence.
Feng shui turns, no one expected that after decades of development, the antique market is now popular again Ming and Qing objects, so the Ming and Qing furniture at this time is difficult to find, especially like Zhang Zhiyong, which is made of precious yellow rosewood, but also makes countless collections flock to it.
The two official hats and chairs started from a few million, and many people raised their cards in their hands, scrambling to bid and increase prices...
Zhang Zhiyong looked at the crowd of people who were rising and falling, and every time he called up a number, his heart was like stopping and beating half a beat, and millions of dollars in the eyes of these collectors may be just a number, but it is a flat-headed people who can't earn money for a lifetime.
Soon, the auction price rose to tens of millions, watching the price continue to rise, Zhang Zhiyong was even more excited to jump out, no one expected that these two official hat chairs would be so valuable, a thought of his wife once said that these two chairs occupy a place, Zhang Zhiyong felt that his waist was straight.
"23 million! Is there a price increase? When the price was called 23 million, the collectors in the audience bowed their heads, obviously they did not expect these two chairs to sell for such a high price.
With the host's hammer, the auction finally ended, the two official hat chairs were finally sold for 23 million, and Zhang Zhiyong's two eyes that were even more smiling narrowed into a slit.
The grandson's housing problem was solved, and a big stone in Zhang Zhiyong's heart was also put down.
Although the 23 million two official hats and chairs sounded like a bit of a fantasy, it was not surprising because it was just in time for the Ming and Qing dynasty furniture boom, coupled with the collectors' fanatical collecting habits.
Of course, for Zhang Zhiyong, these things can only be said to be the operation of the times.
But this kind of luck and "picking up leaks" are all unattainable, so don't have a "gambler mentality", you should work down-to-earth or work, you should make money or make money, and eating with your own hands is the last word.