The Diana Cargo, 1817
The Diana Cargo
1817
''The Diana'' was owned by Palmer and Co. a powerful Calcutta ship owner and was liscenced
by the English East India Company to sail from Calcutta or Madras to Canton, carrying cotton
and of course, opium, which was extremely lucrative. The ship would then return to India from
China, laden with silks, tea, preserved fruits and thousands of pieces of beautiful blue and white
porcelain.
Unfortunately The Diana was on one of these voyages when, on the 14th of March 1817, she hit
some rocks off the Straits of Malacca and sank. The wreck was identified and recovered in 1994
by Dorian Ball of Malaysian Historical Salvors.
Christie's auctioned the porcelain cargo in Amsterdam in March 1995.
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Diana Cargo, 1817
Object 2010997
Glazed toy figure
China
c.1816
Provenance: The Diana Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 6-7 March 1995
Height 63 mm (2.48 inch), dimensions 43 mm (1.69 inch) x 25 mm (0.98 inch), weight 40 grams (1.41 ounce (oz.))
Glazed toy figure of a 'happy couple' straw glazed with scattered green and dark spots. On the toy figure the original 'Christie's Diana Cargo March 1995' sale lot 1009/10 label proving it has been one of 10 toy figures sold in lot 1009.
Ball states that of the 877 terracotta statues, animal statue predominated. There were crowing cocks, seated dogs, paddling ducks, horses and buffalo. The finest one of all was the boy on a buffalo. Amazingly, the paint had survived on many of them and apart from their desirability for reasons of religion or superstition, they would make attractive display pieces too. The objects were especially popular with the more superstitious southern Chinese communities in Guandong, Fujian, and Zhejiary provinces; and little secular groups. Figures were normally carried as "private" cargo, not in bulk; but there is evidence that there were several hundred on Diana, so maybe the Madrassi principals thought it was worth experimenting with the local markets in India. The Chinese never regarded ceramic sculptures as a serious art form. Unlike Western potters, who were excited by trying to recreate in a ceramic medium the achievements of the European stone and wood sculptural tradition, the Chinese made pottery and porcelain figures as a very cheap substitute only for other media like stone, wood or even ivory and soapstone) in Fujian province'. Ceramic figures never formed the bulk part of a cargo coming back from the West+ except for a brief period a century before Diana, when blanc de Chine figures became sufficiently popular for large quantities to be shipped from a temporary entrepôt at Amoy. Apart from that moment, Diana tells us, more than any other excavated ship's cargo, about what figures the Chinese were producing, and what was popular abroad even when largely divorced from their original context. (Ball 1995, pp.145-149)
In total 212 glazed toy figures (of which 66 'happy couple' figures) were sold divided over the lots: 989-1013. (Amsterdam 1995)
Condition: Some loss of glaze due to to submergence in sea water.
References:
Amsterdam 1995, p.120, lot 989-1013
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Diana Cargo, 1817
Object 2010996
Glazed toy figure
China
c.1816
Provenance: The Diana Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 6-7 March 1995
Height 63 mm (2.48 inch), dimensions 45 mm (1.77 inch) x 35 mm (1.37 inch), weight 50 grams (1.76 ounce (oz.))
Glazed toy figure of a seated boy holding a bushy-tailed feline straw glazed with scattered green and dark spots. On the toy figure the original 'Christie's Diana Cargo March 1995' sale lot 1009/10 label proving it has been one of 10 toy figures sold in lot 1009.
Ball states that of the 877 terracotta statues, animal statue predominated. There were crowing cocks, seated dogs, paddling ducks, horses and buffalo. The finest one of all was the boy on a buffalo. Amazingly, the paint had survived on many of them and apart from their desirability for reasons of religion or superstition, they would make attractive display pieces too. The objects were especially popular with the more superstitious southern Chinese communities in Guandong, Fujian, and Zhejiary provinces; and little secular groups. Figures were normally carried as "private" cargo, not in bulk; but there is evidence that there were several hundred on Diana, so maybe the Madrassi principals thought it was worth experimenting with the local markets in India. The Chinese never regarded ceramic sculptures as a serious art form. Unlike Western potters, who were excited by trying to recreate in a ceramic medium the achievements of the European stone and wood sculptural tradition, the Chinese made pottery and porcelain figures as a very cheap substitute only for other media like stone, wood or even ivory and soapstone) in Fujian province'. Ceramic figures never formed the bulk part of a cargo coming back from the West+ except for a brief period a century before Diana, when blanc de Chine figures became sufficiently popular for large quantities to be shipped from a temporary entrepôt at Amoy. Apart from that moment, Diana tells us, more than any other excavated ship's cargo, about what figures the Chinese were producing, and what was popular abroad even when largely divorced from their original context. (Ball 1995, pp.145-149)
In total 212 glazed toy figures (of which 62 'seated boy with a bushy- tailed feline' figures) were sold divided over the lots: 989-1013. (Amsterdam 1995)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated glazed toy figure, please see:
Condition: Some tiny spots with loss of glaze.
References:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Diana Cargo, 1817
Object 2010322
Bowl
China
c.1816
Provenance: The Diana Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 6-7 March 1995
Height 70 mm (2.76 inch), diameter of rim 145 mm (5.71 inch), diameter of footring 65 mm (2.56 inch), weight 280 grams (9.88 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring, slightly flaring rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with two tiers of interlocking lotus panels containing alternating lingzhi fungus stems and fruiting peach sprays. Marked on the base with a seal mark in a double circle, underglaze blue. On the bowl the original "Christie's Diana Cargo March 1995" sale label proving it has been one of 12 similar bowls sold in lot 1097.
In total 1,152 bowls with the 'interlocking lotus panels' design, in various sizes were sold divided over the lots: 1042-1060, 1074-1087, 1090-1094, 1097-1099, 1100-1105, 1156-1157 & 1158-1187. (Amsterdam 1995)
Condition: A (glazed) firing flaw to the rim, exterior wall and bottom and a 1 mm (0,04 inch) fleabite to the rim.
Reference:
Amsterdam 1995, lot 1042-1060, 1074-1087, 1090-1094, 1097-1099, 1100-1105, 1156-1157 & 1158-1187
Price: € 199 Currency Converter
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