Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 66: Clue to the Past (1)

At a first glance, the old man’s ashtray looked like an old common gilt bronze ashtray. It didn’t show any great techniques and its shape was ordinary.

Rather, it was thicker than necessary as if it had been crudely made in a factory. Its paint had worn off, and it had nothing that showed traces of any period. At least it looked like that…

“Well, the string is old, so unroll it carefully.”

At this, Haejin managed to take his eyes off from the ashtray and carefully undid the knot of the scroll.

Strangely, when he unrolled it, the painting wasn’t vertical but was horizontal.

In the bottom, a stream was flooding while dark and nameless trees were on the river bank. Higher than that, there were huge hills, thatched houses and, on the horizon, you could see the mountains.

The flourishing nature of the summer was depicted with the dark black tree shades near the stream, and this blackness reminded you of someone’s name.

“It’s Lee Sangbeom’s.”

At this, Eric stretched his neck to look at the painting.

“Eastern paintings certainly have a different atmosphere from western paintings. Even realistic paintings somehow give you something to think about. It is nice. Did you say Lee Sangbeom? Is he famous?”

“He is. Lee Sangbeom was a great artist who led Korean landscape paintings after Korea was liberated from Japan. His unique style is enough to call him the best landscape painting artist after Jeong Seon and Jang Seungeuop.”

He was great as an artist, but his pro-Japanese activities made Haejin’s mouth taste bitter.

“Jeong Seon and Jang Seungeuop? Jang Seungeuop… yes, I’ve heard of him. He was a Korean artist of the late 19 th and early 20 th century, right?”

“Yes, he was a genius. He also had a unique personality and did many strange things… I guess you don’t know of Jeong Seon?”

Eric frowned and shook his head.

“I’ve never heard of him. He must be famous as you are talking about him, but compared to Japanese and Chinese artists, Korean artists are unfamiliar to me.”

“Well, knowing Jang Seungeuop alone tells me your knowledge about eastern paintings is way above average. Only a few appraisers and artists, who grew up in the western world, know the name Jang Seungeuop.”

“However, anyone who sees his painting just once would remember him. I was like that. Eastern landscape paintings are all more or less the same, but his paintings were different. It might sound a little funny, but his paintings changed my mood every time I saw them. It was so strange.”

Eric Holton certainly knew about paintings. He must have mainly seen western paintings, but he instinctively recognized the line and coloring methods of eastern paintings.

“You are great. Yes, Jang Seungeuop was a genius. So, he freely used all kinds of methods, like Baekmyeo method (maximizing the beauty of the line), Gongpil method (emphasizing the delicate coloring) and Gampil method (maximizing the light and shade of the ink). That’s why his paintings are all different.”

Eric nodded.

“He was a great artist… usually, people like that start as geniuses, touch a bit of this and a bit of that, draw some ordinary paintings and disappear.”

Not all geniuses succeed. For instance, although Tom Keating had a great artistic talent, he was never recognized with his own paintings. Instead, he became a great forger.

“Lee Sangbeom, who drew this painting, was influenced by Jang Seungeuop. Lee Sangbeom was An Jungsik’s apprentice, who in turn was Jang Seungeuop’s apprentice. Anyway, I should examine it.”

The painting had Lee Sangbeom’s style, but it could be fake, so Haejin had to be careful.

Additionally, as Jason Chang openly mixed reals and fakes, getting fooled by him wouldn’t be a surprise to Haejin.

“Hmm…”

The backing paper, the condition of the hanji, and Lee Sangbeom’s unique style and line convinced Haejin. It was real.

“Why? Is it real?” Eric asked.

Haejin shook his head as if he was dissatisfied. However, the old man was the one to react the most sensitively to Haejin’s attitude.

“What? There’s something wrong with the painting?”

“Hmm…”

Haejin didn’t answer that. He just stared at the painting seriously.

It wasn’t because he had found something important. He couldn’t figure out a good way to take that ashtray.

Should he just ask for it? Then, the old man would start doubting him. He would think that maybe he had underestimated that ashtray.

Of course, he couldn’t just leave with it. It would be stealing, even if he didn’t leave any traces by using magic.

Then, Haejin had to make a deal without magic, but he couldn’t think of a way.

“Is it fake? Is it?” Eric didn’t know what was going on, he just kept asking. Haejin answered, avoiding the old man’s gaze, “It’s uncertain.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Uncertain? Are you saying you are uncertain of its authenticity? Or are you wondering if it is valuable enough for you to buy it?”

“I…”

Haejin glanced at the old man and stroked his chin.

The old man then yelled, “You cannot think this is a fake. I have run this shop for forty years! I swear upon my pride and honor. It is not fake! The man who brought and sold it to me worked in the Korean Appraisal Committee!”

Haejin had been dragging for time, but hearing this, he was shocked. A man from the Korean Appraisal Committee had come to Hong Kong to sell an artifact…

“Who sold this to you?”

The old man looked away.

“Khmm… I cannot tell you… anyway, this cannot be a fake. Although he sold it to me, he might as well have sold it to Jason Chang. If it turns out to be fake later, bring it to me. I will give you a full refund. I am not saying this to sell it to you. I am doing it for my pride.”

The old man banged at the table with the painting on it. Then, Eric stroked the porcelain he had bought and started speaking.

“Then, would you give me a refund to me if mine turns out to be fake?”

The old man frowned and nodded.

“Fine, I will.”

Eric’s lips curled up at this. It meant his porcelain was real.

Haejin had appraised so, but Eric was the buyer, more assurance, of course, made him happy. A huge amount of money was involved in that deal.

However, as the situation was going this way, Haejin thought he could take advantage of it.

“How can I believe that? You can just sell it and deny it later.”

Eric was surprised as much as the old man. He put a hand on Haejin’s shoulder and whispered, “What are you doing? I thought eastern people were all about being polite.”

He was right to be confused, so Haejin quietly poked his side. The old man was dumbfounded.

Haejin added, “And you just implied that the dish was B?tteger’s. Of course, you said you didn’t say so but, frankly, you knew that we would think that way. So…”

Haejin’s face showed some doubt. The old man snorted.

“Huh! Fine! If you can’t believe me, don’t buy it. I am too offended to sell it, anyway!”

He rolled the painting again.

Eric looked at Haejin and asked, “But, what if it is real? How much would it be?”

“Well… at least two thousand million.”

Eric showed the old man his phone and talked.

“Why don’t you just sell this painting? How about 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars?”

Even if Haejin and Eric had become closer after a few deals, giving a gift that was worth two thousand million won was impossible.

Eric knew Haejin was doing it on purpose, so he was trying to revive the negotiation before things went wrong.

In fact, Haejin had tried to refuse a few times, so he was a little shocked when the old man rolled the painting. So, he silently thanked Eric for chiming in.

“1.4 million? Hmm… why? You said you thought it is a fake?”

This time, Haejin spoke again.

“But is it really real? If it’s fake…”

“Oh, it is real!”

“Then I don’t need anything else. Just give me a signature to prove it.”

“A signature?”

“Yes. I’ll need it when someone asks me from whom I bought it later.”

That sounded reasonable, or the promise of 1.4 million was too tempting.

The old man frowned and asked, “Then, where should I sign? I cannot sign on the painting… I also can’t sign behind the scroll… no, I’ll sign here.”

He picked up a notebook and ripped a page out.

“I should write that this painting is real in here, right? That I sold it to you.”

Haejin tilted his head.

“Paper can be ripped, so let’s choose something else. Oh, what about this?”

Haejin put the empty ashtray on the table and picked up a pen. Then, he offered it to the old man.

“This? I should write on this?”

“Oh, it’s a little dirty, right? Just a second, please.”

The shop had a sink, so Haejin washed the ashtray. He cleaned only the inside lest the old man recognized its real value. Then, he dropped it in front of the old man.

“People in this village must know that you used this ashtray. Well… at least some of them must know. Sign on it, and I will believe you.”

The old man looked at the paper in his hand and the ashtray in turn.

“What is the account number? Should I send the money to Jason Chang again?”

However, Eric’s 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars was too tempting. He ditched the paper and wrote, ‘I sold Lee Sangbeom’s painting’ on the ashtray.

In fact, he had never done anything like this, and Haejin had also never heard of making a deal in this way.

Nevertheless, it went that way because 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars was too huge.

When it comes to antiques for sale, having them doesn’t mean having money.

You have to keep waiting for someone who would pay for the right price but, if that person never shows up, that antique is no good to you, no matter how valuable it is.

At least you can get a loan when you have a real estate but, with antiques, you buy them with money and just keep them until you sell them.

Of course, the owner should try to sell when the right person was here. That was why he had bought it so easily.

“Send the money here.”

The old man wrote a different account number. Apparently, each thing had a different person to be paid to.

“Then, it was a good deal.”

They called someone, put the porcelain in the car, said goodbye to the old man with a huge smile and left the shop.

As soon as Eric got on the car, he looked at Haejin and asked, “What was going on there? Were you trying to get that ashtray?”

“First, tell me your account number. I’ll send you that money.”

In fact, he didn’t mean to buy the painting at two thousand million won, but as it was a 1+1, he decided to accept it.

“I was going to give it to you as a gift… then send me half of it. I was going to pay you your fee, anyway.”

“How can the appraising fee be higher than the price of the porcelain?”

“This time, it can be. That’s how my situation is now. The gift I was going to give you was worth that much, anyway. Let’s talk about it later and tell me. My curiosity is killing me. What was that about?”

Haejin rubbed the bottom of the ashtray with his hand.