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Latest update; June 17, 2013.
Objects 2011393, 2011417 & 2011418
Three teacups and saucers
Japan
Dating: Edo middle period (1704-1800),
c.1700-1720
Three teacups and saucers on footrings, flared straight sides and slightly everted rims. The bases glazed. "Gold" Imari decorated in gold, iron-red and a light-pinkish gold wash.
In the centre of the saucers a single flowering peony in a circle surrounded by grasses and three groups of flowering plants namely; millet, carnation and camellia each with three groups of two partridges.
On the exterior wall of the teacup grasses and three groups of flowering plants namely; millet, carnation and camellia each with three groups of two partridges. On the bottom of the teacups a single flowering peony.
For an identically decorated bowl see;
Dimensions:
Teacups:
Height: 40 mm (1.57 inch)
Diameter: 67 mm (2.64 inch)
Diameter of footring: 33 mm (1.30 inch)
Saucer:
Height: 25 mm (0.98 inch)
Diameter: 112 mm (4.41 inch)
Diameter of footring: 55 mm or (2.17 inch)
Condition teacups: One with a frit and one with a hairline, both to the rim.
Condition saucers: All three perfect.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.213, cat. 237.
Düsseldorf 2000, p.49, cat. 10.
Jörg 2003/1, pp.115-116 cat. 123 & 124 & p.201, cat. 256.
Price: Sold.
Object 2011379
Saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Late Kangxi period (1662-1722) early Yongzheng period (1723-1735), c.1720-1740
Saucer on a footring, scalloped side and rim with a glazed base. Decorated in various famille verte enamels
Decorated in the centre with a single flower head in a concentric band. The cavetto and rim are decorated with different flowering plants growing from pierced rockwork near a fence. The reverse with two flower sprays.
To the base a rectangular paper label that reads; "FAMILLE VERTE, K'ang Hsi (1662-1722)".
Dimensions:
Height: 27 mm (1.06 inch)
Diameter: 122 mm (4.80 inch)
Diameter of footring: 68 mm (2.68 inch)
Condition: A frit with a short connected hairline to the rim.
Price: € 149 - $ 198 - £ 126
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on their exchange rate to the € price)
Object 2011321
Jar
Provenance: (Southeast) China, Zhangzhou (Swatow)
Dating: Late 16th century / first half 17th century
Jar on a footring with a glazed base, nearly vertical sides and an angled shoulder. Decorated in underglaze blue.
The neck is encircled by a single concentric band and round the shoulder a border with lotus leaves, on the body two panels with a spotted deer or haze, rocks and plants.
For a similarly decorated jar see:
- Aziatische Ceramiek en Glas, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, exhibition catalogue of the J.M. van Diepen collection, Fraeylemaborg, Slochteren 1982), p.12, cat. 12.
- Zhangzhou (Swatow) Ceramics. Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries Found in Indonesia, (S. Adhyatman, The Ceramic Society of Indonesia, 1999), p.122, cat.150.
Dimensions:
Height: 69 mm (2.71 inch)
Diameter: 85 mm (3.35 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 25 mm (0.98 inch)
Diameter of footring: 50 mm (1.97 inch)
Condition: Two chips to the footring, a smoothened rim with some firing flaws and fine crazing to the glaze.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982, p.12, cat. 12.
Adhyatman 1999, p.122, cat. 150.
Price: € 199 - $ 266 - £ 169
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2011409
Dish
Provenance: China
Dating: Late Kangxi period (1662-1722) early Yongzheng period (1723-1735), c.1720-1740
Dish on a footring with a spreading rim. Decorated in various famille verte enamels. The rim in underglaze brown.
In the centre, decorated with a flowering peony plant. On top of the cavetto a ruyi border and round the rim a border of stylized lotus flowerheads, seperated by leafy scrolls. The reverse is undecorated.
Dimensions:
Height: 25 mm (0.98 inch)
Diameter: 225 mm (8.86 inch)
Diameter of footring: 122 mm (4.80 inch)
Condition: Perfect.
Price: € 399 - $ 529 - £ 339
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2011398
Saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Late Yongzheng (1723-1735) or early Qianlong period (1736-1795). c.1735-1745, overdecorated in The Netherlands c.1735-1745.
Saucer on a footring with a straight rim and a glazed base. Decorated with a tree and flowering plants growing from pierced rockwork. The original decoration in white and green enamel. Overdecorated in The Netherlands, Amsterdams Bont c.1735-1735, with iron-red, black and gold.
Decorated with a single butterfly, (carefully positioned on the original pierced rockwork decoration) and gilded panels and borders.
A fascinating saucer technically. It seems that the original decoration has tried to be burned off before the Amsterdams Bont decoration was applied.
For a similarly (over)decorated teacup and saucer see:
Dimensions:
Height: 20 mm (0.79 inch)
Diameter: 120 mm (4.72 inch)
Diameter of footring: 70 mm (2.76 inch)
Condition: Two plopped bubbles of glaze caused by the firing process to the rim
Price: € 299 - $ 395 - £ 254
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2010C223
Miniature garniture
Provenance: Japan
Dating: Edo early period (1615-1703), c.1700
Miniature garniture of two covered baluster jars and three baluster beaker vases on footring. The oviform jars with wide, upright neck. Domed cover and pointed knob (one of knob has fallen sideways during the firing process). All five pieces with a "takefushi-shaped foot. Both decorated in overglaze iron-red and gold.
All objects decorated with a flowering carnation alternating with a clump of flowering daisies. Round the necks pointed leaves pattern borders. The covers with flowering carnation and a clump of daisies
In O. Impey's "Japanese Export Porcelain. Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford", Category 36, is devoted to coloured Imari with no underglaze blue, red and gold only. The implication of this singular restriction of palette, without the use of underglaze blue, is that these may be the product of a single enamelling workshop, but may or may not be the product of a single kiln. The restriction is probably one of choice, for it would hardly be cheaper, if at all, to use a wider range of enamels, and no cheaper to use underglaze blue.
For a similarly decorated miniature salt and chamber-pot see:
Dimensions:
Covered baluster jars;
Height (with cover): 82 mm (3.23 inch) / 93 mm (3.66 inch)
Height (without cover): 67 mm (2.64 inch) / 70 mm (2.76 inch)
Diameter: 54 mm (2.13 inch) / 51 mm (2.01 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 31 mm (1.22 inch) / 29 mm (1.14 inch)
Diameter of footring: 31 mm (1.22 inch) / 29 mm (1.14 inch)
Baluster beaker vases;
Height: 72 mm (2.83 inch) / 69 mm (2.72 inch) / 69 mm (2.72 inch)
Diameter: 34 mm (1.34 inch) / 32 mm (1.26 inch) / 32 mm (1.26 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 18 mm (0.71 inch) / 16 mm (0.63 inch) / 18 mm (0.71 inch)
Diameter of footring: 25 mm (0.98 inch) / 21 mm (0.83 inch) / 22 mm (0.87 inch)
Conditions:
Covered baluster vases: A firing flaw to a pointed knob. A fleabite to a rim and a chip to an inner rim.
Baluster beaker vases: Some firing flaws. A chip and a fleabite to a rim, an tiny glaze hairline and a "S"-shaped glaze hairline to a rim.
References:
Jörg 2003/1, p.165, cat. 191, p.166, cat. 193 & p.190, cat. 238.
Price: € 1.249 - $ 1.066 - £ 1.634
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2011381
Saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722), c.1700-1720
Saucer on a footring with a glazed base and a straight rim. Covered with underglaze powder blue.
Decorated with three flying cranes around a central medallion with a fungus, reserved in white on an underglaze powder blue ground. The reverse is undecorated.
C.J.A. Jörg, in collaboration with J. van Campen, states in his "Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties" that the decoration was applied using a special technique. The motifs were cut out in paper and applied to the surface, which was then sprayed with powdered cobalt blue blown through a small bamboo pipe with a piece of gauze held in front of it. The paper patterns were removed and after glazing and firing the motifs appeared white in reserve on the speckled blue.
For an identically decorated saucer see:
Dimensions:
Height: 21 mm (0.82 inch)
Diameter: 110 mm (4.33 inch)
Diameter of footring: 59 mm (2.32 inch)
Condition: A hairline to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.140, cat. 148.
Price: Sold.
Object 2011256
Bird feeder
Provenance: China / The Hatcher Collection, Christie's Amsterdam.
Dating: 1st half 17th Century, c.1643
Mark: Imperial Reign Mark; Da Ming Xuan de nian zhi. Made during the Xuande reign of the Great Ming dynasty. Six-character mark. (1423-1435), underglaze blue.
Bird feeder of circular form with short neck, one side with two small loup handles, the base slightly pointed. Decorated in underglaze blue. (sources: The Hatcher Collection, auction catalogues Christie’s Amsterdam, 7 December 1983, 14 March 1984. 12/13 June 1984, 14 February 1985)
Decorated with lotus heads growing from scrolling stems with curled leaves above a border of pointed leaves encircling the base.
C. Sheaf states in "Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain. The private collection of Captain Michael M. Hatcher, selected from the contents of an Asiatic vessel, which went down in the South China Sea circa 1640, auction sale catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 February 1985" that the range of shapes of wares available in the Hatcher junk illustrates what a south Asian porcelain trading vessel of the mid 17th Century might be expected to contain. The cargo also includes objects which normally did not reach the West. This wreck should be seen in its historical context. There was a Dutch pewter jug found in the wreck, which certainly suggests a connection with the VOC, (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) Dutch East India Company, headquarters at Batavia. The native Ming dynasty was overthrown in 1644 and the resulting civil war substantially upset Chinese trade with the VOC and other western powers. The rebellion interrupted Junk trade to the VOC headquarters at Formosa, the entrepot for ceramics bound ultimately for Batavia. The contents of this wreck suggest a considerable conservatism in the production of Chinese domestic blue and white for the first half of the 17th Century. Types of "kraak" porcelain which were discovered in the "Witte Leeuw" wreck (which sank in 1613) are closely mirrored in the porcelain of this ship, 30 to 40 years later, it is often said that the Dutch were very conservative in their porcelain taste during the first half the 17th century. It may well be that the VOC went on buying "kraak" type wares, and the reason why such large amounts of dishes, bowls and jars survived especially in the Netherlands, is that, in fact, there was no export porcelain alternative readily available which the VOC could buy in quantity from Chinese trading Junks.
C. Sheaf states in "Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain. The private collection of Captain Michael M. Hatcher, selected from the contents of an Asiatic vessel, which went down in the South China Sea circa 1640, auction sale catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 February 1985" that many of the smaller pieces offered from this wreck bear earlier reign-marks, mostly of the late Ming Emperors none unfortunately of Tianqi or Chongzheng, but equally none with Kangxi marks or cyclical dates for the earliest years of the Manchu Qing dynasty.
D.S. Howard states in his "A Tale of Three Cities, Canton, Shanghai & Hong Kong. Three centuries of Sino-British trade in the decorative arts" that these pieces were all recovered from the wreck of a Chinese junk in the South China seas port of Batavia (today Jakarta) by Captain Michael Hatcher in 1983, and were later sold in Holland. They were a small part of what, at the time, was the largest cargo of Chinese porcelain ever recovered in good condition from the sea - some twenty five thousand pieces. The very wide diversity and quality of many of the pieces created great interest, and the date was established by the existence in the find of two pieces with the Chinese cyclical date for 1643. The ship was almost certainly sailing from China to the Dutch base at Batavia from where cargoes were purchased and transhipped to Dutch East Indiamen for their journey to Europe.
C. Sheaf and R. Kilburn state in their "The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes. The Complete Record" that Captain Michael Hatcher and his crew brought up about 25,000 pieces of unbroken porcelain from the Hatcher junk. Those sold through four sales at Christies Amsterdam. Captain Hatcher returned to the site in 1985 and salvaged over 2,000 more pieces, most of which were sold through a London dealer, Heirloom and Howard. The great majority of the 25,000 pieces were Jingdezhen blue and white, but there were also interesting groups of celadon, blanc-de-chine, coloured wares and provincial blue and white.
J. Howard Farrar states in, The Christian Science Monitor, "An antiques dealer's quest for "Harmony" that when in 1984 a cargo of Chinese porcelain was raised from the bottom of the South China Sea by Michael Hatcher, the market was not ready for the quantities of Ming porcelain which suddenly appeared. Nor was it ready for the special effect on the glaze which centuries under the seas had produced. Belgium antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt was captivated by the romance of the cargo and bought almost the entire consignment at the first auction. Only then did dealers and collectors realize the importance of the cargo, and prices soon rocketed, turning Vervoordt's venture into what he described as the best deal he has ever made.
For identically decorated bird feeders see:
- Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain, recently recovered from an Asian vessel in the South China Sea. The Property of Captain Michael Hatcher. Auction catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, pp.40-41, lot numbers 208-213.
- Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain. The private collection of Captain Michael M. Hatcher, selected from the contents of an Asiatic vessel, which went down in the South China Sea circa 1640, auction sale catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 February 1985, pp.26-27, lots 123-124.
- The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes. The Complete Record, (C. Sheaf & R. Kilburn, Oxford 1988), p.70, Pl.107.
Dimensions:
Height: 38 mm (1.50 inch)
Diameter: 61 mm (2.40 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 40 mm (1.57 inch)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, p.70, Pl.107.
Amsterdam 1984, pp.7-9 & pp.40-41, lot numbers 208 - 213.
Amsterdam 1985, pp.26-27, lot numbers 123 & 124.
Price: Sold.
Object 2011384
Dish
Provenance: (Southeast) China, Zhangzhou (Swatow). Probably from Anxi, Fujijan province.
Formerly in the collection of the famous Dutch author, journalist and adventurer; Johan J. Fabricius (1899-1981). The dish was presented as a gift by, Anneke (Anna) Cornelia Bleeker (Fabricius widow), to her friend Mrs. Tine Kruijt - de Kroes (1930-2012). Both ladies were members of a society studying "wild plants".
Dating: 17th or 18th century
Dish on footring with flaring sides, ridged and out-turned at the edge. A glazed base. Polychrome decorated with overglaze iron-red and green and black overglaze enamels.
The centre with a floral spray in a double concentric band, encircled by a biscuit ring painted green with black scrolls and dashes. On the interior wall four ogival medallions, edged with green and black and filled with floral sprays in red and green separated by other sprays, outlined in red over a striated, red background. The exterior is plain. Covered with a crackled cream-white glaze.
In 1979, B. Harrisson states in het "Swatow" that fragments of this ware have turned up, among Swatow and other fragments, in refuse of the historic V.O.C. anchorage west of Tanjong Priok at Jakarta. In his 1964 study, Miedema recorded this ware as related to Swatow in style, and suggested it may have originated from a minor kiln in the vicinity of Amoy. What he described is here referred to Southeast Asia with confidence, even though kiln-shreds of this material have not, so far, been identified. The physical and stylistic properties of this ware is closer to Vietnam than to China.
Twenty year later; in 1999, S. Adhyatman states in her "Zhangzhou (Swatow) Ceramics. Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries Found in Indonesia" that often found with Swatow ware as surface finds are ceramics in freely painted designs in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels. They are found at the Pasar Ikan, an old V.O.C. harbour near Jakarta, and in Banten, West Java. In style they are reminiscent of Swatow ware, although they have a different body. At a ceramic symposium of wares from Fujian held in Singapore in April 1998, Mr. Ye Qinglin from the Anxi Museum showed a fragment of a blue and white dish, as a product of the Anxi kilns from the late Ming to early Qing. The origin of these wares is thus established. The stoneware body is brittle, porous and of a creamish-white colour. Dishes have a relatively narrow foot and flaring sides with an angled and down-turned rim forming a ridge on the underside. The exterior is always plain and the base can be glazed or unglazed. The footring, slanting on the exterior, straight on the interior, has straight edge with adherence of glaze smudges. In the interior is an unglazed biscuit ring. In polychrome specimens this is painted green with black scrolls. The transparent glaze is normally crackled with pinholes. The enamels include red, a vivid lime green, a dull sepia or aubergine and black.
For an identically decorated dish see:
For a similarly decorated dish see:
Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe (1587-1657) was a skipper in the Dutch East India Company (VOC), who made only one voyage for the company (1618–1625). On a voyage to Java a fire, caused by a shipmate accidentally setting fire to a cask of brandy, caused the gunpowder magazine to explode and sink the ship. Of the 119 still on the ship only two survived, including Bontekoe, but he was wounded. There were 70 in two lifeboats, so 72 survived. They continued in the two boats; later they went on together in one. Sails were made from the shirts of the crew. They were hungry and thirsty; some drank seawater or urine. Bontekoe did the latter too, until it became too concentrated. Sometimes there was relief by being able to catch birds and flying fish, and by rain supplying drinking water. The hunger became so severe again that the crew decided to soon kill the ship boys. Bontekoe writes that he was against that, and that they agreed that they would wait three more days. Just in time, 13 days after the ship wreck, they reached land where they could eat coconuts. It was an island in the Sunda Strait, 15 miles of Sumatra. They went on to Sumatra, where they encountered locals from whom they could first buy food, but who later attacked them. Eleven crew members were killed, and four had to be abandoned; they had probably also been killed. The 57 survivors encountered a Dutch fleet of 23 ships near Java under the command of Frederik de Houtman, which saved them from going to the now hostile Bantam. Divided over the ships they reached Batavia on Java, where Bontekoe was received by Jan Pierszoon Coen, who gave Bontekoe a new command and an order to harass the Chinese coast. In 1625 Bontekoe returned to Holland. After his return, he settled down in Hoorn to live a quiet life. Bontekoe might have been forgotten had he not written his journal. This journal/book is about his voyage with the Nieuw Hoorn, the shipwreck, the adventurous voyage to Java in lifeboats, and his subsequent years of service in East Asia, It was first published in 1646 and was a bestseller in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first part of the journal became the basis of the very popular children's book by Johan Fabricius, De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe (1923; "The Ship Boys of Bontekoe" or "The Cabin Boys of Bontekoe"). (source: Wikipedia)
Johan Johannes Fabricius (August 24, 1899 – June 21, 1981) was a Dutch author, journalist and adventurer. Fabricius was born in Bandung Java. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1940, Fabricius moved to England to work as a newsreader. After the Second World War Fabricius worked as a correspondent for the BBC and The Times in Asia. He wrote approximately 60 books, among them many books for children. He is well known for writing the historical children's book" De scheepsjongens van Bontekoe", "The Ship Boys of Bontekoe" or "The Cabin Boys of Bontekoe" (1923), which was reprinted 28 times as of 2003. In 1956 he returned to The Netherlands. After the death of his first wife Ruth Freudenberg, Fabricius remarried in 1968 with Anneke (Anna) Cornelia Bleeker. Johan Fabricius died in 1981 at the age of 81 in Glimmen. (source: Wikipedia)
Dimensions:
Height: 63 mm (2.48 inch)
Diameter: 295 mm (11.6 inch)
Diameter of footring: 107 mm (4.21 inch)
Condition: Two hairlines to the rim.
References:
Harrisson 1979, pp.124-125, cat. 245 & 245a.
Adhyatman 1999, p.185, cat. 257a & 257b.
Price: € 999 - $ 1.293 - £ 855
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
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