[Previous Week Plot
Review]
Musée Pellimet des arts
asiatique de Paris was holding a unique Chinese Jade exhibition. The contents
of this exhibition were donated to the museum by a Marseille entrepreneur and
philanthropist Alfonse de Baux.
Certain strange anomalies
presented among this donations posed difficulties in analyzing the history and
origin of the pieces.
After a close examination
of all the artifacts, the museum archaeologist, Dr. Catherine Denver was
totally baffled by two pieces which seemed to be beyond any earthly means of
analyzation!
One was a Chinese Jade
Cong, one was an Amethyst.
[ONE
– The little girl looked up again
and again] – Continue <WEEK III>
Act in their promotional
role, Dr. Tertois and Catherine appeared on several television and radio shows.
Other than the museum’s promotion, the philanthropist himself also vehemently involved in a major role of publicity; using his celebrity status and accompanied by his fiancée, the Chinese movie star Tang Meiye who had even a bigger celebrity status, attended every possible press conferences, art exhibition openings, and movie premieres.
Frequently he was questioned on the spot by the press, about his donation to Pellimet Museum; the source of his collection, under what circumstances he acquired these pieces, etc. He was very evasive towards these enquiries, only stated that he will explain everything at the opening day ceremony.
Highlight to all the buzz,
was a huge poster, hanging over the banister of the third-floor balcony in the
museum. It was the photo of the couple. Both in Chinese attires; Tang Meiye was
in "Little Phoenix" style costume - a high-collar, narrow-waist
jacket and plaited skirt in vermilion satin with gold peony embroidery. He was in traditional Chinese man's costume –
fitted satin robe with “Lucky-Bat” icon texture, a vest, and a “melon-skin”
hat.
They both supposed to
attend the opening ceremony, but something unexpected happened, two days before
the opening, Alfonse de Baux disappeared, a global search was conducted, but he
was nowhere to be found！
Tang Meiye appeared at the
ceremony, but did not answer any media questions. A pair of dark sun glasses
hid her red and puffed eyes. The silence treatment whetted up a bigger public
appetite both French and International. Curiosities and guesses alike created
rumors: “is his disappearance linked to the mysterious Mayan civilization? Or
to the ancient Chinese civilization?” “Could it be possible some jade pieces
carry some kind of ‘curse?’ similar to the mummies of Egypt?”
All these whispers and
unanswered questions, stroke a nerve of Parisian press; consequently it all
made this exhibition the biggest event of the decade.
The ribbon cutting
cocktail party stated at ten o'clock in the morning. Tang Meiye appeared, but did not participate
in any of the ceremonies, just silently sitting on the VIP seat, wearing a wide
brimmed hat and a pair of big dark sun glasses.
Next to her sat Melane de Baux, Alfonse's younger sister, who was
attending on her brother's behalf. Flashlights sparkled hundreds of times,
focused on them.
The exhibition opened to
the public at one o'clock in the afternoon. The lineup started early in the
morning, by the time the door opened up, the line of outside waiting people
almost encircled the entire block.
There was a non-stop flow
the entire afternoon, endless people and groups came in to see this famous
collection, yet all in a controlled manner. Newly recruited and quickly trained
guides were in high spirit, but obviously exhausted towards the end of day.
Now it was seven o'clock
at night, just a little while further to go before closing time, the rotunda
was still full of people and activities, at least three groups in an orderly
manner, followed their guide, visiting each glassed display. The guides were particularly
trained not to swoon on to the cases two groups at the same time.
At the present, Catherine
searched the beautiful vault ceiling, nothing seemed out of place to her, she
returned to the glass case.
Inside the case, under bright illumination, was a dark brown colored CONG. At a first glance, it was no doubt a typical Chinese jade that could belong to the Red Mountain period or the Liang Wet Land period.
But after a second look any scholar would raise a few questions. This CONG, compared with any existing antique ones, differed both in size and in shape; it was 5 millimeter longer and 3 millimeter thicker, and it was a hexagon!
Catherine found it
impossible to tackle all these problems in such a short time. She would have to
know the history of the pieces and even to visit the exact locations where they
had been excavated.
She tried to ask Alfonse
de Baux directly, but did not find any opportunity to do so before his
disappearance.
Facing so many
uncertainties, Catherine put a lot of question marks on the index card posted
at the corner of the glass case. The line indicates the origin of this CONG was
marked: "Unknown."
At the moment, Casandra
suddenly raised her head again and stared at the vault with its slow
color-changing illumination from outside. Then she pulled on her mother's
clothe.
"Cass, what's the matter?"
"Maman, there is a man on the ceiling."
(To be continued next week)
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