Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 29: Artifact of the Treasure Ship (3)

Using magic wasn’t a problem, but Haejin’s mana was not enough to see the whole history behind the porcelain.

To check if it was real, he only had to see the time when it was made, but his thoughts were, ‘what did they do for them to offer a bet like that?’

“Before I start, who is this?”

Instead of replying, Haecheol looked at the man sitting on the opposite side. It meant he should answer himself. The man, who was over 40, turned to Haejin.

“Nice to meet you. I am Jo Gangmin. I am an art dealer.”

He had a slight Chungcheongdo accent. Haejin thought he should have come with Byeongguk who was an expert when it came to art dealers.

“Are you trying to sell this water bottle?”

“Yes, and you are supposed to appraise it.”

“I don’t understand. There is no way to prove if I am wrong. Are you going to scratch it and send a piece to Oxford?”

As porcelains don’t contain carbon, radiometric dating could not be used. The only way to scientifically appraise it was to send it to England.

However, bringing it to Oxford Authentication to have it appraised would be legally impossible. The only legal way was to cut out a small piece and send it to England.

This is how Oxford appraises porcelain. First, they carefully take a piece of the porcelain that roughly weighs 100mg. Of course, the process of taking the sample should be recorded with photos and a video.

When heated in a high temperature, the sample would emit a faint blue light. This light is called thermoluminescence, or TL for short.

That light is measured by a very sensitive device called photomultiplier tube, and it can tell how much time has passed since the porcelain was baked in the kiln by measuring the brightness of the light.

As that kind of technology and devices were not in Korea, porcelains had to be appraised through the deductions of the appraisers so there could be mistakes.

“Yes. I must know whether it’s real, even if I have to damage it.”

Haecheol answered instead of Gangmin.

Taking a sample of porcelain is not easy. One must cut out a piece that is 3mm wide and 4mm long from a piece without the glaze, like the bottom, with a special tool made of diamond under cold water.

This sample is cut into a thin plate that is 0.2mm thick with a machine called diamond wheel. As the process might damage the valuable porcelain, the owner would want to avoid that, unless he is very desperate.

“Is there a reason you have to do that?”

Haecheol looked out the window, thinking about his past.

“It was the summer of 1976. I was young. I was working in a building at a fertilizer factory in Gwangju, Gyeonggido. At the time, they were taking out the treasures from the ocean. However, as civilians, we had no right to do that. We wanted to, but we didn’t dare to try. The president, at that time, was strong.”

Well… that was the time when even rich chairmen would be doomed if they didn’t fear the politicians.

“So?”

“And one day, a middleman like this came to me.”

Haecheol pointed at Gangmin. His tone made it clear he despised antique merchants.

“Did he bring the artifacts recovered from Sinan?”

“Yes. He said he had siphoned three of them in secret. He told me when the fisherman first fished out the six porcelains, there were actually nine, not six. He had the three and wanted me to buy them.”

The story of the treasure ship at the bottom of the coastal ocean of Sinan started when a fisherman fished out six Blue Flower White Porcelains with his net by chance.

“What was the price?”

“Ten million. At that time, an apartment was worth two million. And he wanted ten million for those three artifacts, so I thought it was ridiculous.”

“So, you didn’t buy it?”

“I was going to, but my wife, who was interested in porcelains, didn’t like it. So, she couldn’t let those porcelains go and, even if she had to, she wanted to find out whether they were real. So, she went to Jeonrado herself to find that fisherman who first recovered the porcelains but, on the way, there was a car accident.

That accident killed my wife. I was just starting to earn enough to support my family, and then she left me.

I still think about it. I can’t understand why she made all that fuss as if buying a fake would be fatal… but the thought of it being fake, I cannot bear it.”

Only now Haejin could understand why Haecheol was obsessed with the authenticity of the porcelain.

“That is sad.”

“At that time, I thought I didn’t need those porcelains. However, strangely after that, I could not let go of antiques.

So, I bought every good artifact I could find. That is why I gave a personal appraiser to Yaerin.

However, by a twist of fate, this is one of the three porcelains.

That middle merchant disappeared with them soon after the accident, so I thought I would never see them again in this life and, here it is, right back in front of my eyes. So, it is driving me crazy.”

Haejin had thought Haecheol was doing all that for fun, but it turned out he had to know if the porcelain was real no matter what.

Haejin looked at the art dealer Jo Gangmin, the person directly involved in this important case, he just stood there with his hands folded as if it had nothing to do with him.

Judging from that confidence, there was no way the porcelain was a fake… but you should never believe an antique dealer, even if he says that crows are black.

“Where did you buy this?”

“I bought it from Mr. Gang Sangchun at Haman, Byeongnam. He is a local rich man who owns a few buildings, and I happened to get to know him. If you find it hard to believe, you can contact him. I will give you his name card. He hasn’t left his hometown for decades, so meeting him will be easy, even if you don’t call in advance.”

Haejin looked at Haecheol. He nodded, as he had already checked that.

“What will happen to him if this is a fake?”

Haecheol looked at Gangmin and spoke coldly.

“He will have to take the responsibility.”

Gangmin’s eyebrows slightly shook. Only Haecheol would know what that responsibility meant.

“Let me ask you for the last time. You can send it to England without me appraising it first. Why are you making things complicated?”

“You are so talkative. I am old now and talking makes me tired. However, as it is the last question, I will give you the answer. I like talented people. If you fail, I will be recruiting someone better than Oh Jaepil and, if you succeed, I will know who I should run to when I have something troublesome in the future. So, that is also good. Well, although I didn’t know you would ask for such a high fee.”

“So, it is for your granddaughter, after all.”

Haecheol couldn’t let Eunhae have someone better than Oh Jaepil at her side.

“I have a few days to live now. Although this is a little inconvenient, I can at least do this for her.”

“Do you want to take a look first?”

Sujeong, who had been listening quietly, flinched. However, she soon cleared her throat and answered.

“You want me to see if there is any trace of restoration? Okay.”

She carefully lifted up the porcelain and examined it from the bottom to the top. She spent ten minutes studying each part and pattern. Then, she put it down and shook her head.

“No trace of restoration.”

Restoring a porcelain meant putting together broken pieces. You might think it makes no sense, but porcelain restoration using special glue is so delicate that ordinary people cannot do it.

“Okay, then I will see.”

Haejin pretended to drink water and used magic. Next, he started to examine the porcelain. The feeling of the mana leaving his chest hurt him, but it was quite bearable now.

The porcelain had a long mouth and an ample bottom, which was the typical shape of a flower base.

It had a unique dark brown color. Its main pattern was the flower and the elegant spiral pattern.

These are the characteristics of the porcelains made in a Giljuyo kiln in China, especially the splendid dark brown pattern that was different from the porcelains in other kilns like Gyeongdukjinyo and Yongcheonyo. It was popular in the Song period and disappeared after that.

“What did Mr. Oh Jaepil say about this porcelain.”

Haecheol raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t guess Haejin’s intention.

“Are you trying to imitate his remark?”

“It might look that way. So, you won’t tell me?”

Haecheol was confused at Haejin’s cool attitude, but he quickly ignored it and asked, “Are you finished?”

“Yes, I am.”

Even someone with an iron heart would be nervous at this moment. Haejin could see it on Gangmin’s face.

“Is it real? Or is it fake?”

Haecheol was also nervous. This was the reason for his ill-fated relationship with antiques, and it was what destroyed that relationship.

“You know I will take the fee according to the price of the real artifact even if it’s fake, right?”

“I know. So, tell me your results now.”

“It is fake. There are no artifacts from Sinan in the hands of a civilian. That’s a shame. I really wanted to see one…”

Haejin did want to touch a real porcelain of the Song, Yuan and Ming period. He had handled the artifacts his father excavated but, as they were fresh out of the tombs, they were not processed properly and couldn’t be clean like this.

“What? Can you be responsible for that?”

The moment Haejin finished speaking, Gangmin lost his cool and raised his voice.

“I think you can be responsible to Chairman Song here…”

“Oh, that’s enough. It is a fake? If you determined it is a fake, there must be a reason.”

Song looked calm as if he kept his cool, but Haejin didn’t miss his hands slightly shaking. Maybe he didn’t expect that.

“It is a very delicate fake. The unique pattern of Giljuyo, the glaze that was applied three times, and even the shape of the heel that tells the authenticity of the porcelains most accurately, it has all the characteristics of a Song period porcelain.”

“But still you are sure that it’s a fake. Why?”

“Hmm… just cut out a piece and send it to England. Then, you will know that it was made recently.”

It was a perfect fake. Haejin couldn’t persuade them with its looks. If he hadn’t used magic, even he would have been fooled.

“No, no. That’s not it. Give me a reason. A reason that I can accept. Or you may have guessed it with a 50:50 chance.”

“A reason you can accept? You will regret it.”

Haecheol looked shocked for a moment.

“I will? No, I won’t. So, tell me, why is this fake?”

“Are you sure you will not regret it?”

Haecheol now looked angry.

“Who do you think I am…”

“Then I have your word.”

Before Haecheol finished talking, Haejin grabbed the porcelain by its mouth and lifted it. Both Haecheol and Gangmin opened their mouths and exclaimed.

“Uuh!”

“Hey!”

Haejin ignored that and smashed the porcelain on the table with all his might.

Clang!