Chu Chen continued explaining, "As for why I said the inscription on the cup was added later, there are mainly three reasons. First, the gold powder filling the carved inscription has a dull color. It should have been made from copper and other substances, and no objects from the Daoguang era have been found with this kind of color."
"Second, in the four-character seal script, the styles of 'Guang' and 'Made' are different from the inscriptions carved in that year. The character 'Made' is too slanted, making it look cramped. There is too much space between the characters 'Dao' and 'Year.' Finally, the knife marks in the inscription are relatively new. Compared with the turning marks on the bottom of the cup, the difference in age is obvious."
At this point, some friends might ask: Since it was already a genuine Guangxu-era object, what was the point of adding an inscription unnecessarily?
The reasoning was actually simple. It was just like using folk-kiln ware to imitate imperial-kiln ware nowadays—nothing more than an attempt to increase its value. This sort of thing was quite common in the antique market. Many careless buyers had been fooled because of it, so they needed to pay special attention.
"Well said..."
After hearing this, Old Liu and Yu Renpeng nodded repeatedly. Just then, Dean Sima came in together with Old Fei.
"Oh, what treasure are you looking at now?" When Dean Sima saw the wine cup in Chu Chen's hand, he assumed it was another good piece. His eyes immediately seemed to light up.
Seeing this, Old Liu chuckled inwardly and said, "Achen, let Dean Sima take a look at the treasure in your hands."
Chu Chen smiled and handed over the cup. Dean Sima eagerly examined it, but the moment he saw it, disappointment