Cultural relics identification: eyesight is no match for the instrument?

Recently, the national treasure-level cultural relics of Changshan Kiln Museum were suspected of being fake products. According to relevant reports, the donor Ding Yangzhen revealed that he had a "pot king" with similar quality to the pot. A few years ago, he had done a science and technology appraisal for the "King of the Pots" at an accredited institution in Beijing, and concluded that the collection should be a work within a couple of hundred years.

For this result, Ding did not believe that this conclusion was not told to the Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum and the identification experts.

Why can't a test report made by scientific means be trusted or valued? What is the difference between the traditional appraisal report and the expert’s traditional appraisal? With these questions, the reporter visited several antique markets in Beijing.

Old Tibetan friends believe that experience is better than instruments

In a cultural relics appraisal company in the antique market in Beijing, staff members said that although they can do science and technology appraisal, there are very few Tibetan friends who do academic examinations. "Even for half a year, we have not seen one."

Mr. Hung has been collecting antiques for more than 30 years. He believes that the identification of cultural relics should be based on experience and supplemented by science and technology. It must be based on his own experience to identify.

The reason why Mr. Zhang does not do science and technology appraisal is first of all because of the high cost of scientific and technological appraisal. “Each test is at most 200 yuan, and the instrument is at least 2,000 yuan. Although the eye test may not be accurate, the price is cheap.” Second, the instrument is not the most authoritative, he said: "Sometimes better than the machine vision, especially for high imitation of the artwork, the various components and data detected by the instrument may prove to be genuine, but a little understand the collector from the Ming The surface can be seen as imitation."

Mr. Li, who is more than 20 years old, believes that collecting is a process of learning and accumulating experience. If you buy each item, you must first go for identification. If you directly draw a conclusion, you will lose the fun and significance of the collection itself.

Mr. Wang, a shopkeeper at the Beijing antiques market, said that he had only few Tibetan friends to do scientific and technical appraisals. Most of them believe their eyesight and judgment. They are not sure if they will go to an expert to detect. Experts are more experienced.

Compared with old Tibetan friends who have fought for many years, newcomers believe in scientific identification. According to Zhang Jinfa, manager of the Beijing Bogao Yaji Cultural Relics Identification Center, customers who conduct technology appraisal are mainly divided into two categories: one is a newcomer who has just entered the industry, and he does not understand anything, and he is afraid to take advantage of it to make a qualification; Kind of antique businesses, to be a technology appraisal, to produce an identification certificate, the item is like to sell a lot.

Science and technology is reliable?

At present, the most mature scientific identification technology is X-ray fluorescence and thermoluminescence. The composition and elemental composition information of the cultural relic materials can be obtained through the detection, and then compared with the standard database. In principle, the origin and age of the cultural relics can be determined. At present, instruments and equipment on the market also use these two technologies.

Feng Songlin, a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the traditional methods of eyelids are often based on existing collections and excavated cultural relics. “But a large number of artifacts have not yet been discovered, and many new artifacts have not been seen before. Therefore, it is unscientific to proceed completely from an empirical point of view." Feng Songlin said that the identification of cultural relics by natural sciences is a powerful supplement and support to traditional identification methods.

At the same time, Feng Songlin believes that high-tech counterfeit products can be made to look exactly like the real thing in appearance, and it is difficult to accurately judge only by eye contact. Using scientific instruments can accurately measure its composition and help identify authenticity.

However, Feng Songlin said that this method needs to do a lot of pre-research work, according to the existing standard sample accumulation, the establishment of a huge database of origin and date of the standard database, in order to compare ingredients, determine the authenticity of the collection.

Science market overgrown

With the development of technology appraisal technology, an increasing number of cultural relics and technology appraisal companies have been established in the antique market. However, according to a survey conducted by the reporter, these appraisal companies have had mixed applications in technology, professional qualifications, and expert review. True or false.

According to an industry source, in order to meet the needs of antique dealers and artificially control equipment and change, add, or delete component data, some science and technology appraisal companies can measure over 70% of the artifacts can be authentic. He said: Money will come out and you can figure out how to get out."

At the same time, some Tibetan friends are not familiar with the method of scientific identification, but will be deceived by those who underestimate the science. Feng Songlin had contacted a Tibetan friend. The 80% of the artifacts he tested through the appraisal company were true, but when the experts finally re-qualified, the authenticity rate was less than 10%.

Feng Songlin believes that some appraisal companies still have insufficient knowledge of equipment and equipment, leading to inaccurate test results. At the same time, they often lack the standard database of comparisons. Even if they can accurately measure the composition data of cultural relics, it is difficult to make accurate analysis and judgment.

The reporters saw in some technology appraisal companies that the basis for their current comparisons was the "Ceramic Volume of China's Science and Technology History." Some experts believe that the content covered in this book is not comprehensive and does not accurately compare and identify many artifacts that are currently excavated.

The on-duty experts of the Zhongbo Cultural Relics Appraisal Company believe that the cultural relics appraisal must be combined with machine detection and auditing experts. After the artifacts detected by the instrument, experts from at least three national-level experts should also conduct consultations to determine the authenticity of the cultural relics. She said: "The machine should not serve directly for cultural relics, but should be a basis for expert judgment."

It is understood that at present, there is no relevant department in China that provides guidance, management, and supervision over the cultural relics appraisal market. According to insiders of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, the Cultural Relics Bureau is not responsible for the management of the identification of cultural relics. This does not belong to their administrative and purview areas.

Feng Songlin said that in view of this uneven environment, China should establish an access mechanism for accreditation bodies as soon as possible.

In addition, Wang Changyi, director of the Department of History of Science and Technology and Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the identification of cultural relics needs urgent government support. It is not just a financial investment. The most important thing is that a large number of cultural relics samples are needed to build a huge database for scientists to establish a reference. system.