In the exhibition hall, the identification work continues.
Xiao Ran opened the last box and looked inside.
The treasure contained in this box is a gilt bronze statue of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara from the mid-Yuan Dynasty.
This gilt bronze statue of Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms is almost perfectly preserved, with almost no defects in the gilt layer on the surface.
Under the illumination of the light, this Buddha statue from the mid-Yuan Dynasty radiated bright golden light, making everyone feel dizzy.
The moment I saw this gilt bronze statue of Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms, there was an exclamation of exclamation at the scene.
"Wow! Is this a golden Buddha statue? It's so beautiful!"
"The shape of this Buddha statue is really strange, but it looks very solemn. It is obviously a top-notch antique cultural relic."
While amazed, everyone also started talking about it.
Xiao Ran woke up as everyone was talking.
The next moment, he reached into the box, carefully took out the gilt bronze Thousand-Armed Guanyin, and placed it on the table.
This Buddha statue is not big, only less than 30 centimeters high, about 20 centimeters wide, about 12 centimeters thick, and weighs about two kilograms.
The Buddha statue is made of fine copper, thickly gilded, and the skin is coated with natural pulp.
Avalokitesvara's Thousand Hands are used, each of the 42 hands holds a different magic weapon or a variety of mudras. The treasure is solemn, sitting cross-legged on the lotus platform.
The whole statue is solemn and majestic, with precious light shining in all directions, just like the light of Buddha shining in all directions, making people feel respectful.
After placing the Buddha statue, Xiao Ran admired it intently for a moment, and then said with a smile:
"Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara, also known as Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Avalokitesvara, is one of the four major Bodhisattvas in Chinese folk belief and one of the six Buddhist Avalokitesvara."
"This Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue is not cast in gold, but a gilt bronze statue of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara. It is perfectly preserved..."
While Xiao Ran was introducing the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue, several old men far away in Beijing were studying the Buddha statue.
At this time, they were all excited, and their eyes were shining brightly.
Although it was already late at night in the country, they were not tired at all, they were all in high spirits, and seemed to be decades younger!
Xiao Ran had just finished the introduction, and they also came to the conclusion of the appraisal.
The next moment, Shan Lao said excitedly:
"Xiao Ran, there is nothing wrong with this gilt bronze Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue. It is indeed a Buddha statue from the mid-Yuan Dynasty."
"Everything about this Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue conforms to the characteristics of Buddhist statues in the mid-Yuan Dynasty, and it is almost perfectly preserved."
"More importantly, this is a top-grade antique cultural relic with a clear heritage. This treasure can be found in some classics."
"From the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, this Buddha statue has been enshrined in Wutai Mountain. Later it was sent to the Qing Palace and enshrined in the palace's Buddhist hall."
"After the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, this Buddha statue left the Forbidden City. After being circulated several times, it was resold to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the United States."
Listening to Shan Lao's introduction, Xiao Ran smiled and nodded.
He picked up the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue, turned it over and admired it carefully, and then put it back on the table.
The next moment, he nodded proudly and said:
"Since it's true, that's good. It won't be long before this treasure will return to China."
"No one can take this treasure out of China again. This is our treasure."
Before he finished speaking, several old men far away in Beijing began to cheer in unison.
"That's beautiful, Xiao Ran, what you want is this ambition!"
"This is an antique cultural relic that belongs to our country and is our culture. We must not let it wander outside for a long time."
Xiao Ran nodded slightly and then continued:
"Several old men, these treasures from the Philadelphia Museum of Art have been appraised!"
"There is nothing wrong with these things. Next, I am going to trade with the Philadelphia Museum of Art."
"Using this little time, please take a rest first. There are many top-notch antiques and artworks that need your help!"
Hearing this, several old men nodded in unison.
"Okay, Xiao Ran, you are busy with the transaction first."
"We will appraise the next batch of antique artworks when they arrive."
Xiao Ran nodded and immediately walked towards Timothy.
At this time, Timothy and the others had already identified the stolen antiques and artworks.
In fact, their appraisal is just a formality.
They were personally involved in the entire process of discovering, cleaning and appraising these stolen antiques.
Moreover, these stolen antiques and artworks are stored in the vault of their museum, and are completely inaccessible to outsiders.
In this case, there is no doubt about the authenticity of these stolen antique works of art.
After the appraisal was completed, the group of them stood in front of the stolen antique artworks, admiring them and discussing them animatedly.
They were not involved in the appraisal of China's top antique artworks.
They couldn't understand Chinese, and even if they participated, they couldn't understand the conversation between Xiao Ran and the old men.
In a few steps, Xiao Ran came to Timothy's side and got straight to the point.
"Timothy, we have identified the Chinese antiques for exchange"
"There is nothing wrong with those treasures, and the quantity is right. We can trade now."
"Okay, Sean."
Timothy nodded excitedly.
Then, they took their lawyers and walked to the conference table set aside.
The subsequent transaction and signing process went very smoothly.
David and the Philadelphia Museum of Art's lawyers had already drawn up a contract and reached an agreement.
Xiao Ran and Timothy quickly checked the contents of the contract, and after confirming that there were no problems, they signed their names on the contract.
With their actions, this heavyweight art transaction was successfully completed.
Xiao Ran got a large number of top Chinese antiques and cultural relics as he wished, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art got a lot of stolen antiques and artworks, each getting what they needed.
After signing the contract, both parties immediately became busy.
Xiao Ran directed his employees to pack all the top-notch Chinese antiques and artworks they had received from the exchange into portable safes of varying sizes.
Staff at the Philadelphia Museum of Art collected the exchanged stolen antiques and sent them to a vault for storage.
By the time I finished all this, nearly half an hour had passed.
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Ran looked at the president of the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, Segers.
"Gentlemen, it's time for us to trade. Bring up the treasures you brought. I'm looking forward to it!"
"As long as there is no problem with the identification of those items and the quantity is correct, we can trade."
Sigers and the others paused for a moment, then nodded and responded:
"Okay, Sean, let's move those treasures out now."
"You can also take out those stolen antiques and artworks. We really want to appreciate those treasures."
"Of course there is no problem. I believe this will be a very pleasant cooperation."
Xiao Ran responded.
Then, he asked Nick and the others to take action and take out all the treasures that were going to be traded to the Penn Museum and put them on display.
Nick and the others immediately took action, taking the list and starting to look for the corresponding stolen antiques.
In a short time, several priceless paintings and two sculptures were displayed in front of everyone.
The paintings with frames were placed on easels.
Canvases without frames or drawing boards are nailed to temporary drawing boards and placed on easels.
Although it looks a bit crude like this, it does not affect the value of those paintings at all, and no one cares about this formal imperfection.
As for the two sculptures, they are placed on the table for everyone to appreciate and identify.
On the other side, Seghers directed several of his employees to bring up boxes and brocade boxes one by one and place them next to and on several display tables.
Those boxes and brocades contain top-notch Chinese antique artworks for trading, but they can’t be seen for the time being.
After a while, both parties were ready.
Then, Xiao Ran smiled and nodded and said:
"Segers, let's get started."
"Okay, Sean."
Segus nodded in response.
Next, both parties will conduct their own appraisals.
At the same time, several old men in Beijing have returned to the lounge and appeared on the video screen again.
After resting for half an hour, their mental state recovered a lot and they became energetic again.
Looking at Xiao Ran again, he had arrived at the display table and looked at the boxes and brocade boxes placed on the ground and table.
There is an English label on those boxes and brocade boxes, indicating what treasures are in the box.
Xiao Ran glanced at all the boxes and brocade boxes, then picked a box of medium size and opened it gently.
Immediately, what appeared in front of everyone was a bronze vessel with an elegant and clumsy shape. It had some green patina on it, giving it a sense of historical vicissitudes.
This is a bronze square pot, about 38 centimeters high and just over 20 centimeters wide.
It has a square shape, a long neck, and a circle foot. There is an auxiliary head holding a ring ear on each side of the pot body.
The body of the pot is engraved with exquisite Kui dragon patterns and swirl patterns, and the feet are engraved with phoenix and bird patterns.
What's more important is that this ancient bronze square pot is also engraved with many inscriptions, about thirty in total.
These ancient inscriptions are the most valuable part of this bronze square pot.
The moment he saw this bronze square pot, Xiao Ran recognized this treasure.
"It's great. This is the Chen Zhang copper square teapot from the middle of the Warring States Period. I finally saw this legendary national treasure!"
Xiao Ran said excitedly, showing his true feelings completely.
Before he finished speaking, Jin Lao's voice, so excited that he was shaking, came over.
"That's right, Xiao Ran, this is the legendary Chen Zhang copper square teapot from the middle period of the Warring States Period, the national treasure among national treasures!"
"There are a total of thirty inscriptions on Chen Zhang's copper square pot, recording a historical fact about Qi's conquest of Yan in the middle of the Warring States Period."
"The general meaning of the inscription is that in the fifth year of King Xuan of Qi, Tian Ji was restored to power, and General Chen Zhang of Qi led troops to attack the capital of Yan and captured a large amount of loot."
"This historical event is recorded in "Warring States Policy" and "Historical Records" and is the most powerful evidence for studying the history of the mid-Warring States Period."
"One of the three national treasures in Nanjing Museum, Chen Zhang's round teapot, has an inscription engraved on it that is basically the same as Chen Zhang's square teapot."
"They were cast in the same period and record the same historical event. They can be regarded as brothers and support each other. They are both national treasures among national treasures."
Before Mr. Jin could finish speaking, a bronze appraisal expert from the National Museum of China couldn't wait to interrupt.
"In 1916, the traitor Lu Qinzhai smuggled this Chen Zhang copper square teapot from the mid-Warring States Period out of the country and later sold it to the Penn Museum."
"Today, more than a hundred years later, this national treasure among national treasures is finally returning to China. It is truly a blessing among misfortunes."
"Xiao Ran, take out the Chen Zhang square teapot from the box and let us take a look at the inscriptions. Let us take a good look at this national treasure."
"Okay! Please look carefully."
Xiao Ran said with a smile.
Before he finished speaking, he reached into the box and carefully took out Chen Zhang's square pot.
