Recent Acquisitions
On this page you'll find my latest acquisitions.
This way you can quickly browse through my recently acquired objects without having to browse through all the various categories.
After some time, each object in 'Recent Acquisitions' will be moved to their specific category.
Latest update: Recent Acquisitions; April 15, 2024.
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Dutch
Object 2012597 & 2012598
Two saucers
China
1755-1760
2012597: Height 19 mm (0.75 inch), diameter of rim 113 mm (4.45 inch), diameter of footring 67 mm (2.64 inch), weight 50 grams (1.76 ounce (oz.))
2012598: Height 22 mm (0.87 inch), diameter of rim 111 mm (4.37 inch), diameter of footring 68 mm (2.68 inch), weight 54 grams (1.90 ounce (oz.))
Two saucers on footrings, straight rims with slightly flaring edges. Decorated in various polychrome enamels and gold with a coat of arms surrounded by an oval cartouche consisting of a garland in gold: quarterly: 1. and 4. on a blue background a white swan (silver) rising bird, with a twig in its bill and its right foot raised. 2. and 3. on a gold background three green fleur-de-lis (two-one) and a narrow red bar in chief: the crest is a similar rising bird. The mantling comprises scrolling leaves and a hatched background in gold and rouge de fer. On the sides a gold bamboo design with six flower sprays (peony and prunus) in blue, pink, green, yellow, rouge de fer, white and gold. The edge of the rim in gold. The reverse is undecorated. (Kroes 2007, p.256)
These quarterly arms are those of the Schagen family from Hoorn. It was borne this way in the 1730s by Joan Schagen (1698-1762) and later in the 1750s and 1760s by his son Pieter Schagen (1729-1791) and by Joan's nephew Joan Allard Schagen (1713-1768). Their arms correctly, as shown on seals and an eschutcheon from this period, have a slightly different design and colouring: a silver dove standing on a gold ring and three blue fleurs-de-lis (without a red bar in chief). The first and third quarters with the bird are the original Schagen arms, while that of the fleurs-delis quatres descends from the Van Someren family from Utrecht with Johan van Someren who was deacon of the St. John's Chapter of Utrecht (1666-1674). These families were connected by the marriage of Sibilla van Someren and Johan Schagen, the great-great-grandparents of the forementioned Joan Allard Schagen (1713-1768).
Two members of the Schagen family could have commissioned this armorial service: Joan Allard Schagen (41713-1768) or his cousin Pieter Schagen (1929-1791). Thet were both councillors of Hoorn an directors of the VOC Chamber Hoorn, Joan Allard from 1753 to 1768 and Pieter from 1776 to 1791. This porcelain was made about 1755-1760, thus Joan Allard Schagen is most likely.
From the third quarter of the 17th-century the Schagens belonged to the patrician families of Hoorn and were also strongly connected with the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC). Two brothers, Gerard Schagen (1688-1727) and Joan Schagen (1698-1762), both members of the Hoorn city council, were the fathers of Joan Allard and Pieter.
Joan Allard Schagen (born Hoorn, 8 October 1713; died Hoorn, 7July 1768) began his public career in 1735 when he was appointed alderman at the age of 22. in 1738 he was alderman again, then councillor in 1740 (until 1768). In the 1750s and 1760s he was also elected burgomaster for eight terms. Furthermore, he was director of the Levant Trade (1739-1740) and director of the VOV from 1753 as mentioned earlier. He would have ordered this tea service in the late 1750s soon after joining the VOC board. he also held several other positions such as trustee of the orphanage (1736-1737, 1743-1744), trustee of the old people's home (1739, 1741-1742), churchwarden (from1749) and so on. In spite of all these activities his fortune was not that large: in 1768 his estate amounted to the sum of only HFL. 40,338.
Jaon Allard married on 18 december 1735 Bartha Petronella Bost( 1708-1767), the daughter of Jan Bost, burgomaster of Edam. The had five children between 1737 and 1745 but Gerard Jan (1745-1775) was the only one who survived. He was alderman of Hoorn and director of the Levant Trade (1767-1768).
The second possible commissioner, Pieter Schagen (born Hoorn, 29 November 1729; died Hoorn, 3 June 1791), was a member of the Hoorn city council from 1750, alderman (1750) and burgomaster for ten terms during the 1770s and 1780s. Like his cousin he had several additional posts, such as trustee of the orphanage, churchwarden. director of the Levant Trade (1758-1759), director of the West-Indian Company (West-Indische Compagnie WIC) from 1776 until his death in 1791. From his marriage (11 November 1753) to maria Berkhout (1731-1792) he had three children, of whom the youngest Joan Schagen (1762-1812) became alderman in 1785). (Kroes 2007, pp.256-257)
'Villa Alewijn' Grote Oost 26, 1621 BW Hoorn. Throughout the eighteenth century this building was owned by members of the prominent Schagen family and in the nineteenth century by the noble Alewijn family.
Marriage book entry Joan Allard Schagen (1713-1768 and Bartha Petronella Bost (1708-1767)
Source: Waterlands Archief, Trouwen Edam en Volendam 1581-1811 Edam Archief 0234, inventarisnummer 39a.
Signature of Joan Allard Schagen.
Source; Notariële archieven, Amsterdam inventarisnummer 12365, aktenummer 66945.
Burial book Grote Kerk Hoorn (1755-1816), dated 22 July 1768, Joan Allard Schagen (1713-1768)
Source: Marriage and burial books Hoorn, 1579-1874, inventarisnummer 8439a.
Kroes states that a tea bowl and saucer, part of a tea and coffee service with a least one other saucer and coffee cup is known, please see:
Only six services (1.3%) were decorated with bamboo borders for the Dutch market. The main design was a bamboo band with entwined flowers, fruits and leaves, in several cases with spearhead, small flowers and later line decoration. Most are polychrome enamels. Bamboo is the last style with predominant Chinese features, being fashionable in the 1750s. Some services were also made in the 1760s and again in the 1780s. (Kroes 2007, p.27)
Condition:
2012597: Some fleabites and a chip to the rim.
2012598: Some fleabites to the rim.
References:
Waterlands Archief, Trouwen Edam en Volendam 1581-1811 Edam Archief 0234, inventarisnummer 39a
Notariële archieven, Amsterdam inventarisnummer 12365, aktenummer 66945.
Marriage and burial books Hoorn, 1579-1874, inventarisnummer 8439a.
Price: Sold.
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Nanking Cargo, 1752
Object 2010533
Bowl
China
c.1751
Provenance: The Nanking Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 28 April - 2 May 1986
Height 85 mm (3.35 inch), diameter of rim 190 mm (7.48 inch), diameter of footring 88 mm (3.46 inch), weight 447 grams (15.77 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring with spreading sides and a straight rim. Polychrome decorated, only visible in ghost form, all the enamels have been eroded by the salt sea water, with the 'Other' patterns, two birds in flight between peony and a branch of flowering peach. On the base the original Christie's The Nanking Cargo sale label proving it has been one of 59 bowls sold in lot 3160. (Amsterdam 1986, p.130)
On Monday January 3, 1752, the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) ship Geldermalsen, struck a reef on her return journey to the Netherlands and sank in the South China Sea. Of the crew 32 survived and 80 went down with the ship and her cargo of tea, raw silk, textiles, dried wares, groceries, lacquer and porcelain.
The cargo of Chinese porcelain was originally potted in Jingdezhen, Jiangzi province then shipped to Nanking for delivery to the VOC vessel Geldermalsen for final transportation to the Netherlands. The Geldermalsen struck a reef on her return journey to the Netherlands and sank in the South China Sea on January 3, 1752. The cargo was recovered by Captain Michael Hatcher and his team in 1985 and sold by Christie's Amsterdam on 28 April - 2 May 1985 as 'The Nanking Cargo. Chinese Export Porcelain and Gold' two hundred and thirty-five years later. (Jörg 1986/1. pp.39-59).
An interesting detail is that Captain Michael Hatcher found the wreck of the Geldermalsen on the same reef as he earlier, in 1983, found the wreck of a Chinese junk. both wrecks were about a mile apart. This Chinese Junk wreck came to be known as "The Hatcher Junk" she had a cargo of Kraak and Transitional porcelain objects that were dated c.1643. (Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, p.27)
In total 119 bowls with the 'Other' patterns, (two birds in flight between peony and a branch of flowering peach), were sold divided over the lots: 3158-3160. (Amsterdam 1986)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated earlier sold bowl, please see:
Condition: A fleabite, two frits and a glaze rough spot to the rim, a frit to the outer footring and a chip to the inner footring.
References:
Price: € 399 Currency Converter
Kraak Porcelain wares 1570-1645 - Klapmutsen
Object 2010C328
Klapmuts
China
c.1590
Height 50 mm (1.97 inch), diameter of rim 140 mm (5.51 inch), diameter of footring 65 mm (2.56 inch), weight 135 grams (4.76 ounce (oz.))
Klapmuts on footring, flat rim with a bracket-lobed rim. Decorated in underglaze blue. The six-pointed bracket-lobed medallion at the centre is painted with a flowering peony in reverse decoration. The sides and rim are left plain white, and mould pressed with geometrical patterns alternating with Swatika-diaper patterns in low relief. The reverse is undecorated. Some dark, coarse sand from the kiln adheres to the footring.
Kraak klapmutsen with faintly moulded decoration on the sides and rim, such as this example appear to have been produced until the early 17th century. The decoration was impressed with a mould during the potting process. Fragments of bowls with moulded decoration and plain white cavettos and rims have been excavated at the Guanyinge kiln site located in the North of the Old city Zone in Jingdezhen, active in the mid and late Ming dynasty. The archaeological finds suggest that Guanyinge was the main kiln complex and that it not only produced the best quality of kraak porcelain but also the highest volume. (Welsh 2008, p. 86)
Material evidence shows that this type of kraak objects were produced in at least three private kilns of Jingdezhen. A fragment of a saucer dish with a pointed bracket-lobed medallion in cobalt blue and a white cavetto and rim moulded and painted in white slip with lotus flowers and other motifs was excavated at the Shibaqiao kiln site. Fragments of bowls with various moulded and slip painted designs have been excavated at the Guanyinge kiln site. These two kilns produced porcelains of the highest quality for both the domestic and the export markets, as well as porcelain of medium to low quality. Shards that formed part of a saucer dish with ruyi-heads moulded on the cavetto and rim and a bracket-lobed medallion at the centre painted solely in outline with Buddhist Lions encircling a ball tied with ribbons was excavated at the Third Middle School kiln site. (Teresa Canepa, Jingdezhen to the World. The Lurie Collection of Chinese Export Porcelain from the Late Ming Dynasty. (Canepa 2019, p.124)
Condition: A firing tension hairline (caused by the firing process) to the inner wall and a frit to the rim
References:
Price: € 1.499 Currency Converter
Japanese Kakiemon / Japanese Kakiemon-style wares - Japanese Kakiemon-style
Object 2012595
Whistle
Japan
c.1700
Height 38 mm (1.50 inch), length 77 mm (3.03 inch), width 34 mm (1.34 inch), weight 49 grams (1.73 ounce (oz.))
Whistle modelled as a reclining boy with his head raised and supported by his hands, a hole in the base and one in his feet to blow the whistle decorated in Kakiemon-type overglaze blue, green, black and iron-red enamels.
The whistle is blown through a slot in the feet and operated through a hole in the base and the open mouth.
The idea of a figural whistle might have been borrowed from the Chinese, where blanc de chine whistles modelled as a European trader were quite common. The hairstyle here indicates that the figure is Chinese. (Jörg 2003/1, p.278), (www.vam.ac.uk)
Apparently, porcelain figures of humans and animals were a successful export item. The Dutch ordered figures from the very start of the Japanese porcelain trade making use of an already existing market for such figures. The origin of the shapes of the models is still a puzzle, although it seems logical that the Japanese potters used Japanese sources when making the moulds, perhaps referring to the indigenous doll tradition, to prints or to carved figures. These 'exotic' figures played their part in the export assortment, and were either bought by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC)), privately by Dutch merchants, or by the Chinese. Three main groups of figures can be discerned: figures in the Kakiemon palette, Imari figures and figures after European models. Enamelled figures come in many shapes and varieties and were included in the export assortment from the beginning of the Dutch porcelain trade. Recent excavations at the former Akaemachi the 'Enameller's Quarter' in Arita, have yielded discarded fragments of biscuit-fired moulds of figures and pulls from moulds that sometimes closely fit existing Kakiemon-style figures. (Jörg 2003/1, p.273)
For an identically shaped and in Kakiemon-style enamels decorated whistle, please see:
For similarly, in Kakiemon-style enamels decorated whistles, please see:
- Ceramics crossed overseas. Jingdezhen, Imari and Delft from the Collection of the Groninger Museum, (C.J.A. Jörg et al., Tokyo, 1999), p.34, cat. 32.
- Fine & Curious. Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (C.J.A. Jörg, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam, 2003), p.278, cat, 348
Condition: Some firing flaws to the body.
References:
Price: Sold.
Chinese Imari 1700-1800
Object 2012583
Teapot
China
1700-1720
Height with cover 125 mm (4.92 inch), height without cover 87 mm (3.43 inch), diameter handle to spout 151 mm (5.94 inch), dimension of mouthrim 50 mm (1.97 inch), diameter of footring 52 mm (2.05 inch), weight with cover 324 grams (11.43 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 44 grams (1.55 ounce (oz.))
Pear-shaped, ribbed teapot with fluted body on footring. Straight spout, curved C-shaped handle. Domed ribbed cover with a ribbed round knob. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, overglaze iron-red and gold with flower sprays and various butterflies in flight. On the spout and handle flower sprays. The cover is decorated en suite.
Condition: Firing flaws to mouthrim and the underside of rim of the cover, a firing tension hairline (caused by the firing process) to the top attachment of the handle to the body and two very tiny fleabites to the tip of the spout.
Price: € 499 Currency Converter
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Hatcher Junk (1643-1646)
Object 2010C327
Bowl
China
c.1643
Provenance: The Hatcher Collection, Christie’s Amsterdam, 12 and 13 June 1984.
Height 93 mm (3.66 inch), diameter of rim 201 mm (7.91 inch), diameter of footring 80 mm (3.15 inch), weight 673 grams (23.74 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring with high, slightly flared sides, a bracket-lobed rim. Decorated in underglaze blue. The central medallion is decorated with a river scene with rocky mountains, a pagoda and a banner in the distance. The cavetto is decorated with a border formed by alternating flaming wheel and ruyi-heads. The rim is painted with a continuous border with rocky mountains, pavilions, pagodas, banners flying from masts, tres and rowing boats. On the outer wall a bird perched on tree branches alternates with fruit and flower sprays, below a continuous border of horses flying among flames and crested waves. On the inner rim the glue remains of the original Hatcher Collection Christie's Amsterdam June '84, circular auction lot label. On the base the original orange/red Hatcher Collection Christie's Amsterdam June '84, circular paper auction label. (Welsh 2008, p.277)
The Hatcher Cargo was 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 was later sold in the Netherlands. 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. 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. 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.
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. (Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, pp.8-19)
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.
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 Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), 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. 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. (Amsterdam 1985, pp.7-8)
This bowl belongs to a special group of kraak bowls, ranging from about 20 to 22 cm in diameter, which are decorated in the interior with an unusual border formed by alternating flaming wheels or chakras and ruyi-heads. The chakra, the Sanskrit word for wheel, is represented as a flaming disc or wheel and is one of the Eight Buddhist emblems. It represents the teachings of the Buddha, thus is a symbol of enlightenment. It also symbolises sovereignty as it is one of the attributes of the Hindu God, Vishnu.
Thos group of the chakra and ruyi-head border is typically combined with landscape scenes or with a design of white flower-heads on blue crested waves. These landscapes scenes are used in both the central medallions and the inner rim borders.
Bowls with landscapes in the central medallion and inner rim borders are usually decorated on the outside with ten alternating panels with birds perched on trees and fruit and flower sprays below a border of horses flying among flames and crested waves, as can be seen on another example in the collection of the Groninger Museum (inv.no.161 blauw).
The fact that a large number of bowls with similar decorative designs were recovered from the Hatcher junk (c.12643) demonstrates that this type of bowl was popular for about fifty or more years. (Welsh 2008, pp.277-281)
The horse, the seventh of the twelve creatures of the Chinese zodiac that represents the lunar months within a traditional twelve-year cycle, is a symbol of speed and perseverance. It appeared often on Jingdezhen blue and white porcelains of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. (Welsh 2008, p.202)
According to Rinaldi this bowl can be classified as a Shape II.1 with straight rim and cakra (or flaming wheel) motifs (c.1580-1645). (Rinaldi 1989, pp.146-150)
In total only sixty-eight identically shaped, sized and decorated bowls, divided over the lots 858-869 were sold on 12 and 13 June 1984. (Amsterdam 1984/2, lots 858-869)
For identically shaped, sized and decorated The Hatcher Collection bowls, please see:
- Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain, The second and finial part of the Hatcher Collection, recently recovered from an Asian vessel in the South China Sea, auction catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 12 & 13 June 1984, p.75, lots 858-869.
- The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes. The Complete Record, (C. Sheaf & R. Kilburn, Oxford 1988), p.59, Pl.79.
- Kraak porcelain. A moment in the history of trade, (M. Rinaldi, Bamboo Publishing Ltd, London 1989), p.147, Pl.170.
Condition: A firing flaw to the base. Some fleabites a frit and shallow chip to the rim.
References:
Amsterdam 1984/2, lots 858-869
Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, pp.8-19 & Pl. 79
Welsh 2008, p.202 & pp.277-281
Price: € 1.499 Currency Converter
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