Shipwreck Salvaged Porcelain Tea Set from the Nanking Cargo

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Shipwreck Salvaged Porcelain Tea Set from the Nanking Cargo

About the Item

A rare, extremely desirable and perfectly preserved Chinese Imari pavilion saucer and tea bowl set, dating to approximately 1750. Salvaged from the famous Nanking cargo - officially recorded pieces with original 1986 Christie's stickers. The bowl and saucer are both decorated with Chinese Imari in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with the 'Imari Pavilion' pattern. The delicately painted scene shows a watery landscape, with pagodas in the foreground and weeping trees and rocky outcrops to the sides. The rims decorated with fine cross-hatching. The "Nanking cargo" is the modern name given to the porcelain cargo of what we now know to be the Geldermalsen, a huge transport ship belonging to the Dutch East India company (VOC). The Geldermalsen was built in 1746 in Middelburg (Southern Holland) and measured an enormous 1,150 metric tons. It was a trading vessel used to transport porcelain and other goods from the far east to European markets. It was fully loaded en-route from Canton in southern China to Europe, in December 1751. Approximately one month later on 3rd January 1752, the ship hit a reef near modern Singapore, capsizing and killing most of the 112 crew. The cargo remained undiscovered until 1986, when Michael Hatcher, famous treasure hunter, discovered the wreck and removed the entire cargo, later selling it at Christies. The auction attracted great publicity in 1986, where much of the near 200,000 porcelain stash was sold. It is now very hard to obtain legitimate Nanking cargo pieces on the market. ArtAncient Limited has acquired a private collection of Nanking pieces, with official Christies tags and purchased by the previous collector personally in Amsterdam, 1986. We will be offering select pieces from this collection for sale online. Since the ratifications of the UNESCO (2001) convention, cooperative ventures between South East Asian countries and salvage companies have been stymied, with the removal of shipwreck cargo (for which Hatcher was roundly criticised in 1986), being prohibited. Hence, well provenanced antique Shipwreck Ceramics are no longer appearing freshly on the market. Pieces such as this therefore constitute a finite resource and are in our opinion some of the best investments available on the art market. Ceramics from the Nanking wreck can now be found on display in the worlds top museums. Diameter of saucer: 4 5/8 inches. Diameter of tea bowl: 3 inches. Condition: Excellent condition, perfectly preserved by the cold waters of the south China sea. Provenance: Nanking shipwreck, salvaged in 1985 and sold Christies Amsterdam 1986. Both pieces with original 1986 inventory numbers on the underside - an important guarantee of legality and provenance.

Dimensions:
Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)Diameter: 4.6 in (11.69 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Period:
1750-1759
Date of Manufacture:
1750
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU105223566252