Circa 1750 Chinese Nanking Cargo Blue & White Porcelain Tea Cup & Saucer – Christie's 1986 – Collector's Find

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For the collector of Chinese export porcelain and historic shipwreck artifacts, this circa 1750 blue and white porcelain tea bowl … Read more For the collector of Chinese export porcelain and historic shipwreck artifacts, this circa 1750 blue and white porcelain tea bowl and saucer comes from the celebrated Nanking Cargo, recovered from the Dutch East India Company ship Geldermalsen, which sank in 1752. Both pieces retain Christie's original Nanking Cargo auction labels, numbered 5062, from the landmark 1986 Amsterdam sale.

Hand-painted in underglaze cobalt blue, the tea bowl and saucer feature traditional Chinese riverside landscapes with pavilions, rocky outcroppings, trees, and delicate border decoration. The tea bowl has a gently flared rim and a finely painted exterior, while the saucer displays an expansive landscape composition.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE
The Geldermalsen was transporting Chinese export porcelain, tea, and other valuable cargo to Europe when it sank in the South China Sea in January 1752. More than two centuries later, the wreck was salvaged, and its extraordinary collection of porcelain was offered at Christie's Amsterdam in 1986.

The Nanking Cargo has become an important collecting category, combining the history of Chinese porcelain production, eighteenth-century maritime commerce, and archaeological recovery.

What distinguishes this tea bowl and saucer from ordinary decorative blue and white porcelain is their documented association with one of the most celebrated shipwreck discoveries of the twentieth century. The matching Christie's lot labels add particular interest for collectors of Chinese export ceramics and maritime history.

Of particular interest is the well-preserved, glossy glaze on both the tea bowl and saucer. Porcelain recovered from historic shipwrecks can exhibit varying degrees of surface dulling, abrasion, and marine-related alteration after prolonged submersion. The attractive glaze preservation of this pair is especially noteworthy given its approximately 230 years beneath the sea before recovery.

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