Page 188 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

high quality, but the majority of their decorative motifs are complete
fabrications, unlike anything that existed during the Shang 商 or Zhou
周 dynasties. They were not conceived with the purpose of fooling the
uninitiated, but are, instead, artistic creations inspired by a respect for
ancient objects. This may explain the popularity of certain artisans of
the Ming 明 period, including Hu Wenming 胡文明, and Zhang Mingqi
張鳴歧, and Shi Sou 石叟, whose creations have always been greatly
appreciated and researched, even up to the present day.
Fakes of the Qing 清 period
During the Qing 清 dynasty and especially during the reign of Emperor
Qianlong 乾隆 (1736 – 1796 A.D.), the reproductions are more refined
and also more numerous. The style of the decor is archaic, but clearly
modified. The use of inlay, whether of gold, silver or semi-precious
stones, is very popular.
Fakes of the Republican period 中華民國
It is really after the commencement of the Republican period 中華民
國 after 1911 that the age of fakes meant to deceive buyers, be they
collectors, antiquarians, or even specialists and university scholars,
began in earnest. The golden age of such fake-making was between
1920 and 1938. At that time, reproductions become almost perfect,
many with false inscriptions.
These fakes were often produced from molds made from genuine
archaic bronzes but their decoration is often less sharp and blurred
and weak, especially the background leiwen 雷紋 motifs in which
the spirals are less deep and sharp than they should be, or are even
missing in places. The weight of these fakes is different from that of
antique pieces of corresponding design, being either too heavy or much
too light. Even the alloy of the metal is different and very often the
surface of these vessels is covered with many minute air-bubble holes,
particularly so in areas covered by leiwen 雷紋 patterns. Such bubble
holes are easily detected with the use of a simple magnifying glass. The
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surface of these vessels, often a very dark black, is covered in places
with a fake patina whose artificiality is very easy to detect.
One point that deserves special note is that the molds produced
from ancient vessels contain all the faults of the original vessel such
as worn-down decor, cracks, surface damage, etc. as well as faults in
the patination of the original vessel such as incrustation that dulls the
sharpness of, or completely obliterates certain sections of the vessel’s
design, etc. Moreover, the fake patina used to cover the new vessel is
usually uniform in thickness, colour and texture all over, a phenomenon
that does not happen in a naturally patinated genuine bronze.
The most difficult to detect fakes of the 1920s and 30s are those that
were made with metal obtained by melting down genuine broken vessels
or parts of broken vessels of the Shang 商 and Zhou 周 dynasties. Many
such vessels, made with the correct metal alloy, were buried before
and during the Chinese Civil War of the late 1940s and have recently
been reappearing on the market via Hong Kong and Macao. These
masterpieces were made between 1920 and 1938 by the most skilled
of fake-makers in co-operation with antique dealers and other experts
in Shanghai 上海, Beijing 北京, Xian 西安, Suzhou 蘇州, Weixian 濰縣,
and even Japan 日本, especially in Osaka 大阪.
All such first class copies of the 1920s and 30s are exact reproductions
in form, design, decor, etc. of the archaic bronzes of the Shang 商 and
Zhou 周 dynasties and are categorized by specialists according to their
areas of origin.
Fakes of Suzhou 蘇州
Bronze copies produced in Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu 江蘇 province.
Several eminent bronze casters, including Zhou Meigu 周梅谷, Liu
Junqing 劉俊卿 and Jin Runsheng 金潤生, specialized principally in
the reproduction of archaic bronzes unearthed in the area of present-
day Anyang 安陽, in Henan 河南 province, the site of the ancient
Shang 商 capital of Yin 殷墟. Their workmanship surpassed that of
reproductions made at Beijing 北京.
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