Recent Acquisitions
On this page you'll find my latest acquisitions, It may, however, take some time for all objects to load.
This way you can quickly browse through my recently acquired objects without having to browse through all the various categories.
After four weeks each object in 'Recent Acquisitions' will be moved to their specific category.
Latest update; August 4, 2018.
Japanese Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares 18th Century
Object 2012169
Coffee pot
Japan
1700-1720
Height with cover 345 mm (13.58 inch), height without cover 291 mm (11.46 inch), diameter handle to spout 265 mm (10.43 inch), diameter of mouthrim 83 mm (3.27 inch), diameter of footring 154 mm (6.06 inch), weight with cover 1,834 grams (64.69 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 160 grams (5.64 ounce (oz.))
Coffee pot of conical shape on three flat modelled feet. Curved, flat pireced handle, domed cover with pointed knob and loop ring (intended for a chain between the top of the handle and the loop ring on the cover. The hole for the mounted Dutch brass tap in the lower part is surrounded by a kiku-flower moddelled in low relief. Kenjo-Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red, green and gold. Six shaped panels outlined in underglaze blue and filled with foled leaves or a stylised, symmetrical flowering plant. In between on an iron-red ground a stylised flower head in underglaze blue and stylised leaves and flowers in gold. Round the foot a border with flower heads and scrolls and round the rim a border with waves and clouds. On the handle and feet stylised scrolls with leaves and flowers. The cover is decorated en suite.
As was the case with tea, it was not until the end of the 17th century that drinking coffee became popular in Europe. each town had his own coffee house, where everyone - which in fact meant mainly men - could enjoy drinking a cup of coffee. The Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), started off mainly importing coffee from Yemen, experimenting only later with plantations of their own in Java.
However, drinking coffee had for centuries already been a common practice in the Middle East. European coffee pots were therefore often modelled after Islamic copper examples. Two types of coffee pots were most frequently commissioned in Asian porcelain: conical and belly-shaped. The conical shaped pot originally came from Japan. After brewed coffee was poured into this luxurious porcelain pot, it was held warm on a stand and subsequently served through a metal tap which had later been added to the pot after it had been imported to the Netherlands. At the bottom of the pot the coffee grounds were collected. Coffee pots from China, where both types were made, don't feature a tap but a spout. (The World at Home, exhibition Groninger Museum 17 june 2017 - 31 march 2019)
A distinctive style of formally-painted, almost Baroque-looking pieces with broad areas of strong, dark enemal is referred to in Japan as kenjo-Imari ('presentation-Imari'). (Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.211)
Coffee pots, usually three-legged, are common in blue-and-white and in enamelled Imari. usually there is one hole left for a tap to be fitted in Europe, occasionally there are three. (Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.213)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated Coffee pot, please see;
Condition: A chip to the rim and restored cover and feet.
References:
Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.211 & p.213
Price: Sold.
Japanese Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares 18th Century
Object 2011367
Teapot
Japan
1700-1720
Height with cover 84 mm (3.31 inch), height without cover 70 mm (2.76 inch), diameter handle to spout 125 mm (4.92 inch), diameter of mouthrim 31 mm (1.22 inch), diameter of foot 44 mm (1.73 inch), weight with cover 120 grams (4.23 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 11 grams (0.39 ounce (oz.))
Globular teapot on circular flat unglazed base, curved handle, slightly bent spout. Flat cover with round knob. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with three kidney-shaped panels, two filled with flowering plants and a bird in flight and one with a river scape. In between the panels flower sprays. Round the foot a silk worm-pattern border in gold on an underglaze blue ground. On the pierced shoulder a zig-zag lines-pattern border in gold on an underglaze blue ground. and on the cover a chrysanthemum flower head outlined in gold on an underglaze blue ground. The cover is decorated en suite.
Condition: A horizontal firing tension glaze hairline, caused during the firing process, just onder the handle and a tiny restored spot to the tip of the spout
Price: Sold.
Kakiemon / Kakiemon style wares - Kakiemon style wares
Object 2012183
Dish
Japan
1670-1700
Height 28 mm (1.10 inch), diameter of rim 193 mm (7.60 inch), diameter of footring 116 mm (4.57 inch), weight 308 grams (10.86 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring. On the base five spur-marks in an X-pattern. Decorated in Kakiemon type enamels. In the centre with a Hó-ó bird, standing on one leg, on rockwork flanked by flowering peony and chrysanthemum plants in iron-red and yellow enanel, within a double circle in underglaze blue. On the sides four groups of rocks with flowering plants. On the reverse a continuous spray in underglaze blue. Round the foot an underglaze blue line, on the base a wide circle in underglaze blue.
In Japan the bird on the rock, the Hó-ó, is a mythological animal, emblematic of imperial authority. It is considered a symbol of wisdom, strength and also an inhabitant of the Buddhist Paradise. According to legend it would perch only on a kiri- or Paulownia Imperialis tree (Chinese: Wu t’ung). Carving the wood of the kiri is an art form in Japan and China. Several Asian string instruments are made from it, including the Japanese koto. The leaves and blossom of the Paulownia Imperialis became the official crest (mon) of the Empress of Japan. The kiri tree is emblematic of rectitude (Arts 1983, p.133 & 149)
According to Fitski Kakiemon production can be divided into two groups: pieces made in Nangawara which we call 'Kakiemon' and pieces made in Uchiyama, for which we use the appellation 'Kakiemon style'. This dish is representative of a group of pieces, mainly dishes, without the milky-white nigoshide body which is the main characteristic of Kakiemon. In this case, the porcelain is greyish with some impurities or kiln grit on the front and back. Such pieces were not made by the Kakiemon kiln, but by contemporary competitors and are therefore referred to as Kakiemon style. (Jörg 2003/1, p.75 & cat. 62), (Fitski 2011, pp.70-71, p. 90 & p.97)
For an identically, shaped, sized and decorated sold dish, please see:
For an almost identically, in Kakiemon style, decorated dish with two instead of one Hó-ó birds, please see:
For similarly Uchiyama made and in 'Kakiemon style' decorated dishes, please see:
- Kakiemon Porcelain. A Handbook, (M. Fitski, Leiden / Amsterdam, 2011), pp.96-100, cat 108, 109 & 110.
- Chinese and Japanese porcelain for the Dutch Golden Age, (J. van Campen & T. Eliëns ed., Waanders Publishers in collaboration with Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Groninger Museum, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof Leeuwarden, Zwolle 2014, p.148, Fig. 16.
Condition: Firing flaws to the rim and centre.
References:
Fitski 2011, pp.70-71, p.90 & p.97, cat. 108, 109 & 110
Campen & Eliëns 2014, p.148, Fig. 16
Price: € 1.999 - $ 2,323 - £ 1,782
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Batavia Brown (Capucin wares) 1700-1800
Object 2012178
Rosewater sprinkler
China
1700-1720
Height 195 mm (7.68 inch), diameter 95 mm (3.74 inch), diameter of mouthrim 6 mm (0.24 inch), diameter of footring 46 mm (1.81 inch), weight 386 grams (13.62 ounce (oz.))
Double-gourd rosewater sprinkler with spherical body gradually tapering into a long-pointed neck on a tall, spreading foot with a deep recessed glazed base. Covered with underglaze light brown with reserved decoration in underglaze blue of fan-shaped panels filled with a riverscape and leaf-shaped panels filled with a flowering plant.
Perfumation and thurification have a very long history and can be traced back to prehistoric times. For thurification various types of incense burners were and are used until this day. For perfumation, rose-water was used that was stored and applied in specially made sprinklers. (META-Museum: Chinese Export Silver for the Islamic World, (A. von Ferscht, www.chinese-export-silver.com))
Rosewater sprinklers were often decorated in underglaze blue (see object 2012078) and sometimes the body was (partially) covered with underglaze brown (see sold object 2010213) or blue. At first, they were only exported and used as such in Batavia later on in the West they were often fitted with metal or silver mounts. In the Netherlands they served as curiosities and decorative items. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p136)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 140
Price: € 1.499 - $ 1,743 - £ 1,327
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Japanese Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares 18th Century
Object 2010770
Teapot
Japan
1700-1720
Height with cover 102 mm (4.02 inch), height without cover 77 mm (3.03 inch), diameter handle to spout 162 mm (6.38 inch), diameter of mouthrim 42 mm (1.65 inch), diameter of footring 43 mm (1.69 inch), weight with cover 246 grams (8.68 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 37 grams (1.31 ounce (oz.))
Octagonal teapot of globular shape on octagonal footring, slightly bent spout, curved handle, domed cover. Greyish paste and greenish glaze. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with trailing floral sprays covering the whole body and cover. On the handle and spout florets and scrolls.
In the first half of the seventeenth century tea was imported to Europe as were Yixing stoneware and blanc de Chine porcelain from China. The Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) specially ordered blue and white porcelain pots from Jingdezhen beginning in 1639, and continued their orders when trade shifted to Japan. This teapot, decorated in the usual Imari palette with flowers and foliage, is a good example of this shifted trade. (Rotondo-McCord 1997, p.101)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated teapot, please see;
Condition: A firing flaw to the inside wall of the teapot and a restored handle (broken at four places).
Reference:
Price: € 299 - $ 348 - £ 263
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Monochromes 1700-1900
Object 2011586
Storage jar
China
c.1700
Height 157 mm (6.18 inch), diameter 125 mm (4.92 inch), diameter of mouthrim 51 mm (2.01 inch), diameter of footring 61 mm (2.40 inch), weight 925 grams (32.63 ounce (oz.))
Conical storage jar on footring, a marked shoulder ending in a wide mouth with a low rim. Covered with a greyish / greenish glaze, undecorated. The concave base is unglazed
These types of heavily potted, sturdy storage jars were widely mass-produced in south Chinese kilns for export. The impurities of the glaze and the horizontal ribbons on the body, the result of throwing the pots on the wheel, which were not removed in a finishing stage, show the quickness and the efficiency with which these pieces were made. These type of storage jars represent a well-known type, apparently made during long stretches of time during which there is no discernible development in potting, shape and glaze. They were widely used in Southeast Asia as containers for salt and all kinds of food and liquid. Round the rim a piece of parchment, oiled paper or textile could be bound, sealing the contents. Their shape designed to store them economically in the shipholds, lying with the mouth alternatingly up or down. These storage jars were multi-purpose pieces, to be used again and again, filled with new commodities, sold and shipped to new destinations. (Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.90-91)
Similarly shaped storage jars salvaged from the cargo of the The Vung Tau Cargo, c.1690 shipwreck.
(Reproduced from: Porcelain from the Vung Tau Wreck. The Hallstrom Excavation, (C.J.A. Jörg & M. Flecker, UK, 2001), pp.90-91, cat. 94)
Condition: Overall fine crazing to the glaze with various firing flaws, a glaze imperfection to the body and a chip to the footring.
Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.90-91, cat. 94
Price: € 199 - $ 229 - £ 173
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Chinese wares over-decorated in the West 1700-1800 - Dutch over-decorated Amsterdams Bont wares
Object 2011150
Bowl
China
1730-1750, over-decorated in the Netherlands, Amsterdams Bont, c.1750-1770
Height 59 mm (2.32 inch), diameter of rim 112 mm (4.41 inch), diameter of footring 41 mm (1.61 inch), weight 170 grams (6.00 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring, steeply rounded sides and a straight rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with four groups of flowering plants, round the rim a trellis-pattern border with four reserves filled with flower sprays. On the bottom a flower spray in a concentric band and round the inner rim a single concentric band. Over-decorated in iron-red, green and black enamel and gold in the Netherlands, Amsterdams Bont, c.1750-1770 with four panels filled with a flowering plant, in between the panels leafy branches round the foot a descending lotus leaves-pattern border. On the bottom a single flower spray and on the inner wall six single flower sprays.
Condition: A firing tension hairline to the footring , a popped bubble of glaze (caused by the firing process) and two fleabites to the rim.
Price: € 99 - $ 115 - £ 86
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Japanese Blue and White wares 17th Century - Other wares - Page 1
Object 2012166
Kendi
Japan
1670-1690
Height 215 mm (8.46 inch), diameter 158 mm (6.22 inch), diameter of mouthrim 45 mm (1.77 inch), diameter of footring 85 mm (3.34 inch), weight 1,042 grams (36.76 ounce (oz.))
Kendi on footring, spout, fitted with a silver mount (unmarked), on the shoulder, long cylindrical neck ending in a splayed mouth with overturned rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with a simplified, rather sketchily painted, river scene with a bridge, a small pavilion on a shore with trees, rocks and mountains in the background. Round the shoulder a band with stripes and two broad monochrome underglaze blue bands. On the neck a simplified 'tulip' design, on the rim a floret between scrolls and on the spout floral sprays.
The tulip motif is reminiscent of Chinese Transitional designs, but the sketchily rendered river scene and the floret between scrolls are part of the established repertoire of Japanese designs.
Jörg states that the kendi is a drinking and pouring vessel widely used in Asia. Its basic shape is a bulbous body, a long neck and a tubular or breast-shaped (mammiform) spout on the shoulder. The kendi has no handle and one holds it by the neck and drinks from the spout. The kendi seems to have evolved from the Indian kundika and spread throughout Asia, changing shape and adapting to existing local vessels for similar use. Kendis of Chinese kraak porcelain of the first half of the 17th century and Japanese kendis of the second half were part of the Dutch East India Company's (VOC) porcelain assortment for the inter-Asian trade. Apparently, they also reached The Netherlands in small quantities, probably as part of the belongings of retiring VOC employees. They were not used according to their traditional function in The Netherlands and must only have been decorative items or were filled with flowers as shown on paintings. Kendis were not used in Japan (or China) and were made exclusively for export in Arita from the 1660s. Kendis usually have a smooth body, but Japanese potters frequently made a variety that is vertically ribbed by moulding the piece. Another characteristic of Japanese kendis is the broad overturned mouthrim, seen less often in Chinese pieces.
Arts states that the gorgelet (Portuguese: gorgoletta) or ghendi of the Japanese was originally a drinking vessel in general use everywhere in Asian countries. The porcelain form originated during the Ming period probably from a far older earthenware prototype. Later on, after the habit of tobacco-smoking appeared in Asia at the beginning of the 17th century, it was also used as a nargileh base in many Mohammadan countries. The VOC registers indicate that ghendi were made by the Japanese more or less from the beginning, as an imitation of the Chinese examples. In 1669 Begal ordered from Deshima twenty large and small ghendi. The biggest market was South East Asia. In 1671 Chinese junks carried a consignment of 700 Japanese-made ghendi from Deshima to Batavia and another 600 in the following year.
Comparison between object 2012166 and a similar model made of copper. (the coper model is not included in this sale/offer)
For similarly decorated kendis, please see:
- Japans porselein met blauwe decoraties uit de tweede helft van de zeventiende en de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, in, Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 64/65, 1971), p.108, cat. 172.
- Aziatische Ceramiek uit vijf eeuwen, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, exhibition catalogue of the J.M. van Diepen collection, Fraeylemaborg Slochteren, 1977), p.88, cat. 259.
Condition: Crazing to the glaze of the lower part of the kendi with three firing tension hairlines.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1971, p.108, cat. 172
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1977, p.88, cat. 257
Price: € 699 - $ 825 - £ 616
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Western Shapes
Object 2012170
Salt
China
c.1700
Height 57 mm (2.24 inch), diameter concave top 48 mm (1.89 inch), diameter foot 74 mm (2.91 inch), weight 129 grams (4.55 ounce (oz.))
Salt of hexagonal waisted form on an open base. The inside unglazed, the lower hexagonal part tapering to the waist, the spreading top with a recessed centre, the rim extending downwards. Decorated in underglaze blue with a border of moulded descending lotus leaves alternating with lotus leaf-shaped panels filled with a flower head. Round the waist a border with flower heads and dots. On the rim a border with moulded lotus leaves alternating with lotus leaf-shaped panels filled with a a flower head, on the circular concave top moulded lotus leaves.
Modelled after an European pewter or earthenware salt, the material and the Chinese style decoration made this salt an exotic object that was prominently placed on a richly laid table. At this time salts were ordered separately, and only much later as part of a dinner service. With many Christian connotations, salt was an important seasoning at dinner before the 19th century and salts were larger and more elaborate than they are today. (Howard 1994, p.125), (Jörg 2011/2, p.148)
Condition: Some discolouration and fine crazing to the glaze, a few firing flaws and popped bubble of glaze, caused by the firing process, and a glaze rough spot to one edge.
References:
Price: € 449 - $ 529 - £ 395
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Japanese Blue and White wares 18th Century
Object 2010C308
Dish
Japan, Arita, Nangawara valley, Higuchi kiln.
1760-1770
Height 33 mm (1.30 inch), diameter of rim 220 mm (8.66 inch), diameter of footring 137 mm (5.39 inch), weight 479 grams (16.90 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring, straight sides, short flat rim with an upturned scalloped underglaze brown edge. On the base four spur-marks. The glaze a greyish-white colour with many pin-pricks. Decorated with a moulded low relief of two elephants under the glaze, walking to the left in a landscape with rocks, their trunks on the ground, a monk herding them. Above the elephants a text of ten characters in four lines; on the left another text of ten characters in two lines, both groups in underglaze blue. On the rim a circling line of separate small underglaze blue dots and flowering branches moulded in low relief under the glaze. On the base a square shopmark within a circle in underglaze blue.
In general, in Asian cultures the high intelligence and good memory of Asian elephants is admired. As such, they symbolise wisdom and royal power. In Japanese mythology the elephant is a tusked, fanged mythical beast which appears in both Buddhist and Shinto iconography.
The Japanese had not seen elephants until the 16th century, so representations tend to be elaborated by the fancy of the artist. Presumably because of its watery associations the elephant serves to protect wooden structures against fire and to bring about the rain. Hence it is often seen as a tusked-and-fanged short-trunked finial of roof and ceiling beams (Michael Ashkenazi, Handbook of Japanese Mythology, Oxford University Press 2008, pp. 117-118)
Around the middle of the 18th century Arita was depending on the Japanese market again for their sales. Although there was still private trade, the era of large orders for export to the West had passed by. About the same time moulded relief decoration on white porcelain or combined with underglaze blue came into fashion on the more expensive Arita porcelain. According to Fitski, the well-cared for style and brown rim reminds of pieces from the Kakiemon ovens. As a matter of fact, a template for a similar plate has been handed down in the Kakiemon family (Fitski 2002, p. 37/ note 64)
The story depicted is taken from the Neo-Confucian text known as the "Twenty-four Filial Exemplars" written by the Chinese scholar Guo Jujing (Japanese: Kaku Kyokei) during the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368). The book recounts the self-sacrificing behaviour of twenty-four sons and daughters who go to extreme lengths to honour their parents, stepparents, grandparents, and parents-in-law. The text was extremely influential in the mediaeval Far East and was used to teach Confucian moral values.
The scene on the plate shows the story of the Chinese (Ta) Shun (舜, Japanese Taishun (大舜) who was exemplar for modesty and selfless filial piety (xiao 孝). This story was set in his childhood. Shun's mother died when he was young, so his father remarried and had another son with Shun's stepmother. Shun remained filial to his father, respected his stepmother and loved his half-brother even though they tried to kill him. His filial piety moved the gods, so they protected him from harm and made the animals help him in his daily farming chores. At one time he was sent by his father to clear land in the wilderness on Mount Li, where he was aided in his task by herds of Elephants and flocks of birds.
Taishun (大舜), from: Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijûshi-kô dôji kagami, 二十四孝童子鑑)
Publisher: Wakasa-ya Yoichi (若狭屋与市), 1840.Size called ôban, 250 mm (9.84 inch) x 36 mm (14.17 inch); graded coloration (bokashi)
The poem on the dish translates something like this:
"Herds of Elephants plough in the Spring, Flocks of birds pull the weeds; He is the heir of Yao and mounts its Throne; the spirit of filial piety moves the Heart of Heaven".
Shuns selfless acts of filial piety eventually brought him to the attention of the Emperor, who married his daughter to him and subsequently made him his heir. Shun, also known as Emperor Shun and Chonghua, became a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Oral tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC.
The Chinese theme and poem fits very well with the popularity of the Literati movement in Japan. During the 18th century a movement with a craving for Chinese culture and philosophy arose, which had its origin in the middle of the 17th century, when after the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 a lot of Chinese intellectuals and monks fled to Japan. This was the beginning of a renewed interest in Chinese culture, especially Confucian studies, poetry and painting. The influence of the Southern Chinese painting school of literates (the movement was called ‘Nanga painting’ in Japan) was also visible in the decoration of porcelain, such as this dish.
A similary decorated set of bowls and nine small dishes are in a private collection in England.
For an identically shaped and decorated dish, please see;
- Fitski 2002, pp. 36-37 cat. 37
- The Shibata Collection Part II (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu,1991), p. 298, cat.784
- The Shibata Collection Part VIII (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 2002), p.124, cat. 228
For similar dishes with moulded relief and calligraphy, please see:
- The Shibata Collection Part II, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 1991), p.298, cat. 783.
- The Shibata Collection Part VIII (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 2002), p.124, cat. 226 & cat.227
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Fitski 2002, pp. 36-37, cat.37 & p.62 (note 64); p. 47
Price: € 449 - $ 524 - £ 396
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Nanking Cargo, 1752
Object 2012145
Teacup and saucer
China
1752
Provenance: The Nanking Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 28 April - 2 May 1986
Height of teacup 41 mm (1.61 inch), diameter of rim 89 mm (3.50 inch), diameter of footring 38 mm (1.50 inch), weight 70 grams (2.47 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 27 mm (1.06 inch), diameter of rim 136 mm (5.35 inch), diameter of footring 75 mm (2.95 inch), weight 122 grams (4.30 ounce (oz.))
Teacup and saucer on footrings, slightly everted rims. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with the 'Chrysanthemum Rock' pattern in blue and enamels. Painted with chrysanthemum, bamboo and daisy issuing around a jagged outcrop of blue rockwork. On the rim a trellis-pattern border. The teacup is decorated en suite. On the saucer and teacup the original circular paper Christie's The Nanking Cargo sale label and on the teacup the original rectangular paper Christie's lot 5703/48 label, proving they have been one of 48 similar teacups and saucers sold in lot 5703. (Amsterdam 1986, p.263)
On Monday January 3, 1752, the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) vessel 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 Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, 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 1,382 teacups and saucers and 394 saucers without bowls with the 'Chrysanthemum Rock' pattern in blue and enamels were sold divided over the lots: 5693-5709 and 5710-5715. (Amsterdam 1986)
Condition: Both perfect.
References:
Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, p. 27 & Pl.146
Price: € 399 - $ 464 - £ 349
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Various Subjects - Various
Object 2012008
Saucer
China
1700-1720
Height 20 mm (0.79 inch), diameter of rim 106 mm (4.17 inch), diameter of footring 50 mm (1.97 inch), weight 57 grams (2.01 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in 'Red & Gold' or 'Rouge de Fer' with iron-red and gold on the glaze with a yin-yang symbol in a central roundel surrounded by two groups of two winged angels holding a crown above a teapot on a stove separated from each other by cloud motifs. On the reverse two flower sprays.
Suebsman states that the design is to be interpreted as an allegory to tea, tea as the King of beverages. No other objects with this design are known, it was probably made, by special order, for a tea trader. (Suebsman 2018, p.57)
Objects with a Chine de commande design decorated in 'Red & Gold' or 'Rouge de Fer' with iron-red and gold on the glaze are rare we know of a dish with a biblical design of Christ's Baptism and a dish with a river scene with a Dutch drawbridge. For these two examples please see:
- Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting. Selectie uit de collectie Oosterse keramiek. (Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation. A Selection from the Collection of Oriental Ceramics), (C.J.A. Jörg, Slochteren, 2002), p.141, cat. 96.
- Have a Cup of Tea. Chinese Porcelain and Tea in North-West Germany, (Exhibition catalogue, Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 2015), p.107, cat. 87
The yin-yang motif is a very old Chinese cosmological symbol for positive and negative, male and female, dark and light, hot and cold and other pairs of opposites.
For other objects decorated with a yin-yang symbol, please see;
- Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties, (C.J.A. Jörg in collaboration with J. van Campen, Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, London, 1997), pp.86-87, cat. 78 & pp.140-141, cat 150.
Condition: Two frits and three shallow glaze rough spots to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 78 & 150
Price: Sold.
Japanese Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares 18th Century
Object 2012158
Saucer
Japan
1700 -1720
Height 22 mm (0.87 inch), diameter of rim 126 mm (4.96 inch), diameter of footring 50 mm (1.97 inch), weight 81 grams (3.07 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring, wide flat rim. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red, overglaze green, yellow and black enamel and gold with a central flower spray surrounded by knotted ribbons with intertwined tassels. On the rim groups of various flowering plants alternating with a bird in flight. On the reverse a continuous floral scroll.
Condition: Perfect.
Price: Sold.
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Other Vases
Object 2011374
Baluster vase
China
1700-1720
Height with cover 135 mm (5.31 inch), diameter 60 mm (2.36 inch), diameter of mouthrim 23 mm (0.91 inch), diameter of base 40 mm (1.57 inch), weight with cover 275 grams (9.70 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 13 grams (0.46 ounce (oz.))
Baluster vase on footring. Fitted with marked (1845) and engraved Dutch silver mounts. Decorated in underglaze blue with a parrot, perched on a branch, in a lobbed medallion alternating with flowering plants within two broad bands filled with scroll work. Round the foot a descending lotus leaves-pattern border, the mouthrim with a lappet-pattern border and two butterflies in flight. The silver marks explained: the makers mark or year letter 'L' which stands for the date mark 1845, the sword mark was used (1814-1905) as the standard mark on articles too small for the full hallmarking.
The parrot exists as a well documented, independent European design that was widely popular at a time when merchants and travelers first collected parrots as emblems of exotic lands. As early as 1580, the Antwerp engraver Adrian Collaert (1560-1618) published a series of bird prints, among which was an image of two birds on stumps, one of which eats cherries. (Sargent 2012, pp.510-511)
Condition: Perfect.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Western Shapes
Object 2012165
Salt
China
c.1700
Height 68 mm (2.68 inch), diameter concave top 63 mm (2.48 inch), diameter foot 66 mm (2.60 inch), weight 162 grams (5.71 ounce (oz.))
Salt of hexagonal waisted form on an open base. The inside glazed, the lower hexagonal part tapering to the waist, the spreading top with a recessed centre, the rim extending downwards. Decorated in underglaze blue with on each of the facet sides panels filled with flowering plants and leaves. On the rim flowering plants, alternating with auspicious symbols, in reserves flanked by dense leaves. The circular concave top decorated with two wide spread flower sprays.
Modelled after an European pewter or earthenware salt, the material and the Chinese style decoration made this salt an exotic object that was prominently placed on a richly laid table. At this time salts were ordered separately, and only much later as part of a dinner service. With many Christian connotations, salt was an important seasoning at dinner before the 19th century and salts were larger and more elaborate than they are today. (Howard 1994, p.125), (Jörg 2011/2, p.148)
Condition: A popped bubble of glaze, caused by the firing process, to the rim, some firing flaws and tiny glaze rough spots to the rim and foot.
References:
Price: € 749 - $ 911 - £ 655
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Japanese Imari 1690-1800 - 'Gold' Imari
Object 2012143
Teacup and saucer
Japan
1710-1715
Height of teacup 39 mm (1.53 inch), diameter of rim 73 mm (2.87 inch), diameter of footring 29 mm (1.14 inch), weight 42 grams (1.48 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 38 mm (1.50 inch), diameter of rim 116 mm (4.57 inch), diameter of footring 62 mm or (2.44 inch), weight 91 grams (3.21 ounce (oz.))
Teacup on footring and saucer on a wide flat unglazed footring with three small outward turned tapering feet ending in a globule, lobed sides and everted fluted rims. 'Gold' Imari, decorated in gold, iron-red and a light-pinkish gold wash with a single flower spray on the sides and reserves filled with flowering plants alternating with a pagoda near a pine tree in a mountainous landscape. The reverse is undecorated. The teacup is decorated en suite.
The saucer with small feet is very unusual. Apparently, no other published examples are known, which makes this an extremely rare set. At first it was considered that the saucer might in fact have been a leak tray for a milk jug or a small teapot and that the teacup together with a matching saucer, without three small feet, once belonged to the same tea service.
Delving some more into the occurrence of ‘small feet’ in Japanese porcelain, various larger Japanese porcelain objects came to light with all kinds of differently shaped feet or legs. Recorded in literature are items such as kakiemon incense burners (koro) (Impey 2002, cat. 272; Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, cat. 104; Arts 1983, cat. 35), Imari boxes with covers (Jörg 2003/1 cat. 103, 105, 106; Arita 2000, cat. 216) [, a blue and white tripod dish (Kyushu 1998, p.53, cat. 84) and even larger and rare milk bowls, probably made after European earthenware models (Jörg 2003/1, cat. 212/213; Arita 2000, cat. 123 t/m 125).
More comparable because of its small size is an odd Ko-Imari pouring vessel with gilded handles and tripod feet in the collection of Burghley House (The Burghley Porcelains ,1986, p. 264, cat. 116)
However, even more interesting for comparison is a kakiemon saucer (diameter 124 mm (4.88 inch)) with three bracket-feet, which was surely at one time accompanied by a matching cup. When discussing this saucer Impey states that while larger pieces with bracket-feet are well known, they are very rare in this small size (Impey 2002, p. 166 cat. 255; The Burghley Porcelains, 1986, p. 258 cat. 112).
Another kakiemon tripod saucer dish (diameter 145 mm (5.70 inch)) with outward turned feet which resemble the ones on this set very closely, can be found at McPherson Antiques, London, sold stock number 23696.
Unexpectedly, two other 'Gold' Imari teacups and tripod saucers came to light, both decorated with the well-known quail pattern, clearly proving that this set doesn’t stand on its own but has other counterparts, rare as they may be. These three sets, all yet to be published, are part of two distinguished British private collections. Two of these sets may be shown here for comparison.
Two Japanese 'Gold' Imari teacups with legged saucers, c. 1710-1720, private British collection (not included in this sale).
These unusual and very rare sets must have been part of a private order, made in small series, most likely by a specialised kiln.
Condition:
Teacup: Perfect.
Saucer: Two tiny fleabites to the rim.
References:
The Burghley House Porcelains 1986, cat. 112 & 116
Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990 , cat.104
Arita 2000, cat.123 t/m 125, cat. 216
Jörg 2003/1, cat. 103, 105/106, 212/213
McPherson Antiques, London, sold stock number 23696.
Price: Sold.
Japanese Blue and White wares 17th Century - Dishes
Object 2012161
Dish
Japan
1660-1690
Height 33 mm (1.30 inch), diameter of rim 216 mm (8.50 inch), diameter of footring 109 mm (4.29 inch), weight 413 grams (14.57 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring, flat rim. Four spur-marks in a Y-pattern on the base. Decorated in underglaze blue with two Hoo-o birds, one perched on pierced rockwork amongst fruiting peach and camellia, the other in flight above. The sides and rim in kraak style with six wide panels (fuyõ-de) filled with bamboo, peony and prunus, separated from each other by narrow panels filled with scrolls in blue on blue. The reverse is undecorated.
Dishes with this border design are also known with the VOC initials. They were probably ordered by the High Government from 1668 when it started to require porcelain for Batavia. An armorial decorated dish dated c.1667 has a similar border design and dates the style of the border. (Jörg 2003/1, pp.225-226 & p.230), (Antonin & Suebsman 2009, pp.224-225)
For identically decorated dishes, please see:
- Japans porselein met blauwe decoraties uit de tweede helft van de zeventiende en de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw. (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer in Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 64/65, 1971), p.57, cat. 19.
- Oriental Ceramics at the Cape of Good Hope 1652-1795. An account of the porcelain trade of the Dutch East India Company with particular reference to ceramics with the V.O.C. monogram, the Cape Market and South African Collections, (C.S. Woodward, Cape Town & Rotterdam, 1974), p.54, cat. 84.
- H.A. Daendels, Catalogus tentoonstelling Japans blauw wit Porselein. Op Hollandse bestelling en in de Japanse smaak, exhibition catalogue Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden 1981. Also Published as Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 101/102, p.41, cat. 25.
- Complete Catalogue of the Shibata Collection, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu 2003), p.332, cat. 2495.
For other dishes with the same central design but with other sides and rim decorations, please see:
Condition: Some fine crazing to the glaze and a firing flaw to the glaze in the centre.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1971, cat. 19
Woodward 1974, cat. 84, 86 & 87
Jörg 2003/1, cat. 285, 286 & 291
Antonin & Suebsman 2009, cat. 91
Price: € 249 - $ 308 - £ 215
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Chinese wares over-decorated in the West 1700-1800 - English over-decorated Clobbered wares - Page 1
Object 2012125
Teapot stand / Patty pan
China
1730-1740, over-decorated in London England c.1755-1765, possibly by James Giles or his workshop.
Provenance: The Geoffrey Godden Personal Collection.
Height 18 mm (0.71 inch), dimensions rim 130 mm (5.12 inch) x 123 mm (4.84 inch), dimensions base 100 mm (3.94 inch) x 90 mm (3.54 inch), weight 108 grams (3.81 ounce (oz.))
Teapot stand or patty pan with everted scalloped sides and an unglazed base. Decorated with carved (anhua) radiating opnened flower head leaf-shaped panels, filled with radiating lines. Over-decorated in England c.1755-1765, with iron-red and various other enamel colours with a butterfly, a caterpillar and various scattered European flowers. The rim in overglaze (dark) brown. On the side a rectangular paper collectors label that reads; 'Geoffrey Godden Personal 4/96' and on the base, a circular paper dealers label that reads; 'STOCKSPRING ANTIQUES Early James Gilles 48' and another rectangular yellow paper label that reads; 'G 17'.
As early as 1728 the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), "Dagh-registers" state that its ship 'Coxhorn' that left Amsterdam in 1728 with destination China, returned to the Netherlands on June 13th, 1730, fully loaded with tea and porcelain, among its cargo were, for instance, 810 tea pots, 251 pairs of small covered sugar-boxes and 600 pattipans. A pattipan was used to protect the surface of luxurious lacquer or painted tea tables, against the influence of a hot teapot or drops running from its spout. If, in certain circles, a special tea table was not at hand it served to protect the furniture or its valuable table-cloth from tea spots. The Dutch word pattipan is most likely derived from the English word patty pan meaning a pastry mould for little pies or pastries. These patty pans were very similar, in shape and size, to our pattipannen. (Volker 1959), (Kleyn 1980, pp. 253-261)
These subtle anhua 'secret' carved Chinese decoration was too sophisticated for European taste and numerous bowls, plates cups and saucers with this minimal decoration provided a challenge as well as an opportunity to the European decorators. (Espir 2005, pp.66-67)
In the eyes of some scholars and collectors of both Chinese and European porcelains, Chinese export porcelains decorated in Europe are a chinoiserie hybrid. Thanks to this prejudice, such wares have been long overlooked and frequently denigrated with the term clobbered. In the late 19th century European decorated oriental porcelain was called 'clobbered', a word that came into the English language in the mid-19th century meaning as a noun, 'a black paste used by clobbers to fill up and conceal cracks in leather', and as a verb, 'to patch up, to cobble'. Later it was applied to old clothes meaning 'to renovate' and by the 19th century it was it was applied to porcelain. In 1900, F.Litchfield stated, 'There is a description of Chinese known as clobbered .... overpainted with ....ornament ..... sold for decorated oriental China.' It was a derogatory term meaning that the European decorator had plastered his style of decoration all over the pot with total disregard for the original which was the case in much Chinese blue-and-white over-decorated in the early 19th century and which are to blame for the poor reputation of these wares ever since. (Espir 2005, p.75), (Sargent 2012, p.499)
The lack of documentation and the decorators' anonymity-plus, admittedly, the lesser abilities of some independent decorators-have increased mainstream collectors' distancing from these wares. A commentator referred to such pieces as 'inoffensive, at worst a ruinous clobber', and observed that 'the Dutch in particular seem to have been firmly of the opinion that tuppence coloured was better than penny plain, and they suited the action to the word'. The term over-decorated may suggest that too much decoration was used, making it an unsatisfactory term. Over-decorated, clobbered, embellished ... none of these terms readily describes these wares. Many extremely fine European decorators used Chinese porcelains as their 'canvas', however, and it is only recently, with the work of Helen Espir, that these wares and their decorators have received their due.
In England 'China painters' (as they were sometimes identified) included James Gilles (or Gilles), Sr., and one known only as Campman, both of whom were working in 1723. Between 1756 and 1775, both Giles's son James (1718-1780), who worked on porcelain and glass and Jefferyes Hammett O'Neale (1724-1801), who was associated with fable painting, were well-known London decorators associated with the Worcester factory. (Sargent 2012, pp.499-500)
Till now the earliest known documentary evidence of London 'china painters' is in the 1723 Probate Inventory of Henry Akerman, a London shopkeeper selling chinaware, glassware, stoneware and tin-glazed ware, where debts are recorded to 'Gilles China Painter' and 'Campman China painter'. Giles must be James Gilis senior, who was recorded as a 'china painter' of St Giles in the Fields in 1729 when his eldest son Abraham was apprenticed to Philip Margas, another well-known 'chinaman'. Giles' brother in law was Francis bacon also of St Giles in the Fields, who was described in his will in 1737 as 'china painter', who authenticated Giles' handwriting in his Will, stating that he had 'worked with him (Giles) as a servant in his of business for some years'.... 'and to the time of his death' in 1741, was probably the son of Francis Bacon and nephew of Gilis. Giles' younger son James (1718-1780) was to have a distinguished career as a porcelain retailer and decorator from the 1750s to the 1770s. (Espir 2005, pp.213-215)
On his website www.orientalceramics.com, Robert McPherson states that this type of English enamel decoration on Chinese export porcelain should be seen in a different way to what is referred to as `over-decorated` or `clobbered` porcelain. Those terms refer to Chinese porcelain that was imported into Europe as finished articles but were either too plain for merchants to sell or their profits could be enhanced by adding enamels over the existing Chinese decoration. The present example was plain white when it arrived in England, it would not have been saleable and so no merchant would have ordered it to retail. However, James Giles must have ordered allot of white porcelain specifically for decoration at his workshop in London. The shapes ordered were the lasted fashion in Europe as was the decoration he added. To my mind this makes these objects separate and distinct from other Chinese porcelain, China only provided the blank `canvas` and even that was of a form dictated to by Europe. For this reason, these objects could primarily be seen as English, they would have been totally alien to the Chinese. (www.orientalceramics.com)
Geoffrey Godden was an author, historian, collector and dealer; but to the public he was best known for his expert valuations of fine – and not-so-fine – china on BBC Television’s Antiques Roadshow.
Godden called himself a “Chinaman” – an 18th-century term for a dealer in ceramics – and over five decades created a body of reference works that has added greatly to our knowledge of the medium. He insisted, however, that ceramics should be picked up and inspected. “You have to handle and view pieces closely,” Godden said. “Possession is almost vital to understanding.”
He published some 30 books which produced a detailed survey of English porcelain makers, from Bow, Chelsea and Derby, to Lowestoft, Liverpool and Worcester. He also wrote widely on porcelain produced outside Britain.
All of his writing, he observed, aimed to “open the reader’s eyes to the pleasures that await an inquisitive collector”. So prolific was his output that his Antiques Roadshow colleague Henry Sandon nicknamed him the “Barbara Cartland of Ceramics”.
Geoffrey Arthur Godden was born on February 2, 1929 at Worthing to Leslie Godden, an antiques dealer, and his wife Molly. After leaving Worthing High School, Geoffrey joined the family antiques business, Godden of Worthing (founded in 1900 by Geoffrey’s grandfather, Arthur).
He spent part of his teenage years packing and exporting antiques to the United States to raise funds for the war effort. He also caught the collecting bug. “I just naturally began to purchase – with my modest pocket-money – broken specimens of attractive 18th-century porcelain as others of my age might have spent their allowance saving for a new bike or model train,” he recalled.
Called up for National Service in 1947, Godden served in the Hampshire Regiment at Winchester, the Royal Sussex Regiment and finally the Queen’s own Royal West Kent Regiment at Shornecliffe.
When he was demobbed, he re-joined the family firm, specialising in 18th and 19th-century English ceramics, a radical departure from the company’s focus on furniture.
Every book I and other experts take to every roadshow was written by Geoffrey Godden. John Sandon
Having been told by his father that “if you want to know about something, write a book on it”, he published his first volume, Victorian Porcelain, in 1961. His Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pottery and Porcelain (1966) followed; it was subsequently chosen by Derek Nimmo as his book on Desert Island Discs.
Godden’s first love was Lowestoft porcelain, which had been readily available and inexpensive during the 1940s. He was drawn to these wares by their honest, anglicised interpretation of Chinese ceramic designs, often painted by women and children. “There is a homely quality to English blue and white,” he noted. In 1969 he published The Illustrated Guide to Lowestoft Porcelain (revised in 1985).
Over the following decades Godden produced countless books, often focusing on individual factories, as with Minton Pottery & Porcelain of the First Period (1968); others examined decoration – Godden’s Guide to English Blue and White (2004) – and centres of production, such as Chinese Export Market Porcelain (1979). Enthusiasts refer to his 750-page Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks (1964, and still in print) as “the bible”.
When signing books Godden would add “Have Fun” or “A Trifle from Worthing”, the latter mimicking the rare “Trifle from Lowestoft” inscriptions found on some porcelains. He joked that unsigned copies of his books were much rarer, given the specialist nature of the work.
By the 1970s, Godden was appearing on the antiques quiz show Going For A Song with Arthur Negus and, in the 1990s and early 2000s, was a regular contributor to Antiques Roadshow as a member of its ceramics team.
On one roadshow Godden and John Sandon (the son of Henry Sandon and a director at Bonhams) were sharing a table when a woman unpacked a china tea set. Godden informed her that it was made in the 1870s. “No, you’re wrong”, she insisted, “it’s a hundred years older than that, can’t you check in those books the other experts are using? They must be written by real experts.” “I couldn’t help bursting out laughing,” Sandon recalled. “Every book I and other experts take to every roadshow was written by Geoffrey Godden.”
Godden lectured extensively in Britain and abroad, was president of the Northern Ceramics Society (2000-12) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1992 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Keele University.
Despite the lack of any formal training, Godden was a great educator. At home in Worthing he became a mentor to younger experts, giving seminars and hosting study weekends.
In his youth, Godden was a keen angler, representing Worthing Sea Anglers in national competitions. Later, he developed an interest in bowls, playing at the Worthing Bowling Club at Beach House Park. In 1988 he published his Beginner’s Guide To Bowls and would ruefully explain to ceramics audiences that this was his most popular book.
In 1964 Godden married Jean Magness, whose parents were market gardeners in Worthing and suppliers of strawberries to George VI. She predeceased him, and he is survived by their son.
Geoffrey Godden, born February 2, 1929, died May 10, 2016.
(source: www.telegraph.co.uk)
Condition: Some wear to the enamels, popped bubbles of glaze, caused by the firing process, and a tiny fleabite to rim.
References:
Price: € 499 - $ 615 - £ 443
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
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