Beyond brand fraud, the deception within the cultural relic market is even more alarming. The world of antiques is profound; even professional cultural artifact appraisers sometimes find outcomes unpredictable. It is especially challenging for small cultural heritage collectors, who frequently face losses but cling to a mindset of hoping for luck. What if you bet correctly?
However, most bets are lost. When people bring family heirlooms to appraisal shows only to find out they are fakes, the emotional devastation makes them feel as if they’ve fallen from heaven to hell.
Sometimes, museums also create fakes, but not for profit. Some cultural relics are simply too precious to display for long periods. Museums use professional methods to create identical replicas
for exhibition, or when the originals need to be transported internationally. Such invaluable and fragile artifacts often necessitate alternative options.
The “Orphan Treasure”
However, there is one national cultural heritage item that even museum staff cannot imitate, earning it the title of an “orphan treasure.” This artifact is the drum stand from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, which cannot be forged.
This treasure was unearthed in Suizhou, Hubei, in 1977. It is a tribute drum stand gifted to Marquis Yi from a vassal state more than 2,000 years ago. The drum stand of Marquis Yi of Zeng is 0.45 meters high, 0.8 meters in base diameter, and weighs 192.1 kg.
Drums were popular musical instruments during the Warring States period. A drum consists of three parts: the base, the stand, and the drum body. The drum stand is the treasure found in Marquis Yi’s tomb.
The drum stand is made of bronze, which is not a rare material. What is most remarkable about it is its bizarre shape. The entire body of the drum stand is composed of eight pairs of large dragons and several smaller ones, intertwined and inlaid with turquoise. Though chaotic, it gives the viewer a strangely dazzling, vivid, and orderly impression.
The dragons on the stand are all climbing and intertwined, making it impossible to count exactly how many there are. This is also one of the challenges for replication or restoration.
A foreign expert once spent an entire day just trying to count the dragons on the Marquis Yi of Zeng drum stand. He counted 108 dragons! However, the reality is that the number of dragons counted varies depending on the viewer’s perspective; 108 is not the accurate number, and no one knows the exact total.
The Irreproducible Masterpiece
What is even more frustrating is that the drum stand of Marquis Yi of Zeng cannot be replicated. As a unique national treasure, it is difficult to transport for exhibitions everywhere, so a replica is needed for domestic display. However, despite the high level of current scientific and technological advancements, no one has been able to reproduce it.
Every time a replica is made and compared to the original, it is clearly discernible as a fake. It fundamentally fails to capture the original artifact’s spiritual essence, and even the sounds produced are not as mystical and vivid as the original.
Many metallurgy experts, both domestic and international, concluded that the primary casting process used was the lost-wax casting method, commonly employed by ancient Chinese artisans. This method requires extremely high precision and technical skill for casting intricate tools.
The Hubei Provincial Museum invited numerous organizations to replicate this drum stand, but every replica, when compared to the original, was immediately identified as a fake. It could not replicate the original artifact’s magical quality. Therefore, the drum stand of Marquis Yi of Zeng remains an “orphan relic” that cannot be reproduced.
