Brunk Auctions
Live Auction

September Premier Auction: Day 1

Fri, Sep 15, 2017 02:00PM EDT - Sat, Sep 16, 2017 02:00PM EDT
Lot 22

Three Nanking Cargo Guglets

Estimate: $600 - $900

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $25
$100 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$3,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

Chinese, 18th century, underglaze blue decoration of figures in a mountainous lakeside landscape with buildings and pagoda, label reads "Christie's, Lot 2240.0, The Nanking Cargo", 10 x 6 in., rim chips, surface discoloration and accretions; underglaze blue decoration of figures in a mountainous lakeside landscape with buildings and pagoda, 9 x 5 in., rim chips, firing anomalies; underglaze blue decoration of foral and foliate decoration, 9-1/2 x 5 in., surface accretions, chips to rim, barnicles

Notes: In 1752, the Dutch ship, Geldermalsen, sank in the South China Sea, having been laden with Chinese export porcelain.  This shipwrecked hoard was discovered in the early 1980s, and was famously auctioned by Christie's in Amsterdam, as The Nanking Cargo.  

For similar examples of the decoration of the first two listed guglets, please see The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record, by Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, 1988, page 140, plate 182. Regarding the third listed guglet in this lot, the decoration of the piece is exactly the same as items seen on page 125 of The Nanking Cargo by Michael Hatcher, 1987.