VOA慢速英语2021--在美国家居拍卖会上发现的稀有中国艺术品

A small bowl bought for $35 at a home in Connecticut turned out to be a rare piece of ancient Chinese art.

The bowl is worth between $300,000 and $500,000. It will soon go up for sale at an auction¹ – an event at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most.

The white bowl has blue paintings of flowers and other designs. It is about 16 centimeters across.

The company holding the auction, Sotheby's, says the object was found at a yard sale in the New Haven² area last year. A yard sale is a sale of used objects held at the seller's home.

A collector of old objects, or antiques³, saw the bowl at the sale and thought it could be something special.

The piece is one of only seven such bowls known to exist in the world. It will go up for sale in New York on March 17 as part of Sotheby's Auction of Important Chinese Art.

The unidentified buyer paid $35 for the bowl and later emailed information and photos to Sotheby's asking for an estimate of its value. Angela McAteer and Hang Yin, the auction house's experts on Chinese art, get many such emails every week. But this one was the kind they dream about.

McAteer, Sotheby's senior vice⁴ president and head of its Chinese Works of Art Department, said it was clear "that we were looking at something really very, very special."

McAteer added, "The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of the blue is quite characteristic of that early, early 15th century period of porcelain⁵."

Porcelain is a hard, white substance made by heating clay, a kind of heavy, sticky material.

The two experts confirmed the bowl was from the 1400s when they were able to look at it in person. There are no scientific tests, only the trained eyes and hands of experts. The bowl was very smooth to the touch, and the color and designs were clearly from the period.

McAteer said all the information helped them "identify it as a product of the early Ming period."

McAteer said only six other such bowls are known to exist, and most of them are in museums. No others are in the United States.

How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains⁶ a mystery. McAteer said it is possible the bowl was passed down through generations of the same family who did not know how special it was.

"It's always quite astounding⁷ to think that it ... still happens, that these treasures can be discovered," McAteer said. "It's always really exciting for us as specialists when something we didn't even know existed here appears seemingly⁸ out of nowhere."

Words in This Story

bowl – n. a round container that has tall, curving sides and that is used for preparing or serving foods and liquids

characteristic – adj. typical of a person, thing, or group : showing the special qualities or traits⁹ of a person, thing, or group

astounding – adj. causing a feeling of great surprise or wonder

specialist – n. a person who has special knowledge and skill relating to a particular job, area of study, etc.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

3 antiques   

n.古玩，古董，古物( antique的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The room was furnished with antiques. 房间里摆放了古董。
• a priceless collection of antiques 价值连城的古文物收藏

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。

9 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》