WEBVTT

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GUEST: It's a brass, uh,
Chinese, I believe, uh, bowl
that came from my great-aunt.

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The family story is that she was
married to a, a doctor, and that
there was sometimes

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that she had actually bartered
for goods for services during
the Depression.

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APPRAISER: It's Chinese, so at
least you're right on the
first...

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GUEST: Right about the...

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APPRAISER: ...on the first part,
but to, to describe it as a bowl
is...

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You're part of the way there.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: This is actually a, a
vessel that's used for ritual
purpose.

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Okay.

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We call this a censer, and a
censer is just another way of
saying it's an incense burner.

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Let's picture this vessel, which
is bronze, not, not brass.

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GUEST: Brass, mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: Chinese bronzes made
for ritual purpose go back kind
of prehistory, 2,000,

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3,000 years BC.

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So in China, maybe 1000, 1500
BC, they were making ritual
vessels of this general square

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form, and that would
be called a fang-ding.

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This is not from 1000 BC.

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GUEST: (chuckling)

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APPRAISER: This is something
that follows in a long
tradition.

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GUEST: (murmurs) Right.

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APPRAISER: This is more for a
home shrine, perhaps, or it
could be for a, for a scholar's

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studio.

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I'm gonna lift up the bottom to
show a mark that you've
certainly seen, and, and
probably

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wondered about-- this
is Ming Dynasty.

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Da Ming actually
means "Great Ming."

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Xuande is the emperor's name.

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And then this is nian zhi, which
just means "period made."

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GUEST: (murmurs)

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APPRAISER: Now, that's a,
that's a 15th-century emperor.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: But this was
not made in that period.

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In fact, this is what we would
refer to as an honorific mark.

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GUEST: Right.

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APPRAISER: The reason it has a
15th-century imperial mark on it
is because that's a period

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that epitomized just a, a high
point in bronze production.

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The Xuande emperor was
a devout Buddhist.

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In his period, many vessels of
this type were made to go into
Buddhist temples all throughout

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China.

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And so this form is
synonymous with, with Xuande.

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I think it was likely made at
the tail end of the 17th
century.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: So it still
has considerable age.

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Right.

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But not as old as the
mark would suggest.

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There are a few issues as,
as far as condition goes.

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I know from looking at it that
this surface has been polished
at some point.

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GUEST: Yes-- not by me.

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APPRAISER: You... (laughs) Okay!

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GUEST: It was actually, when,
when I acquired it from my, my
great-aunt, it, it, it sat

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on the mantel, and it, yes, it
was a, it was a very shiny
piece, so...

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APPRAISER: (chuckles) Okay, it,
it should have a burnished, kind
of patinated surface.

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Now, I'm happy to say that the
patination has come back a
little bit.

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This is not as shiny as
I'm sure it once was.

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GUEST: No, not at all.

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APPRAISER: And so keeping
that, that's good.

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What I do see, though,
throughout, is this sort of
green verdigris, or, or
otherwise,

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we would call this
bronze disease.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: And this has
something to do, probably with,
it, it could be a matter of
humidity

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in the air, it could be a matter
of this getting wet, or just
being exposed to, to something

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that the br, isn't
good for the bronze.

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I would suggest that this be
taken to a conservator just to
get this cleaned off.

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These sorts of vessels really
resonate with Chinese
collectors.

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They represent a history of
ritual, a history of
scholarship.

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And so the market for these
is very strong right now.

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Do you have any idea
what this is worth?

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Or have you ever suspected what
it may be worth on the market?

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GUEST: Not really, I mean, we,
we guessed at maybe, $2,500 or
$3,000, something like

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that.

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So

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APPRAISER: You're not
terribly far off.

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I think at auction, I would put
a, what may be a conservative
auction estimate, in, in

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2021, of $5,000 to
$8,000 for its sale.

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Okay.

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If the patina had been left
alone, and it had the original
sort of beautiful brown patina,

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I think a value of perhaps
$30,000 would not be out of the
question.

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GUEST: Wow.

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Yeah, that's crazy.

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Just that from her polishing
it at some point.

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APPRAISER: I'm afraid so!

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(laughs)