Nanking Shipwreck Salvaged Tea Bowl and Saucer in Pagoda Riverscape Pattern with Christies Label, c. 1752

Chinese blue and white 18th century tea bowl and saucer in the Pagoda Riverscape pattern from the Nanking cargo which sank on 3 January 1752. The cargo was salvaged by Captain Michael Hatcher and sold through Christies Amsterdam in April/May 1986. The saucer has the original Christies auction sticker to the base with number 064. The tea bowl has the remains of a sticker.

Slight fritting to the rim of the tea bowl, otherwise it is in very good condition and retains its glaze. The saucer shows wear to the glazing commensurate with 230 years under the sea, giving it a soft, matt appearance.

The Nanking cargo is the most famous of the shipwreck cargoes. It attracted worldwide media attention when it was auctioned by Christie in 1986. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to the bottom of the sea over 150,000 ceramic pieces, nearly 700,000 pounds of tea, as well as gold and other cargo.