Description: A Tek Sing shipwreck Swatow 'lotus' dish, the interior decorated with stylised lotus petals in yellow, green and iron red although much of the design is now faded and worn. The glaze dulled from its time underwater, but complete. The reverse in good condition with Nagel Auctions Tek Sing Treasures auction label attached.
Size: 190 mm/7 ins. in diameter.
Culture: Chinese, Shipwreck ceramic
Date: c. 1822 A.D.
Notes: Swatow (now known as Shantou on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China) was an important port producing export porcelain.
The Tek Sing (meaning ‘True Star’) shipwreck was a large Chinese ocean-going junk that was wrecked on a reef on the Belvidere Shoals, Gaspar Straits, Indonesia, in the South China Sea, in 1822, whilst on route from Xiamen (then known as Amoy) in Fujian, China, to Batavia, Dutch East Indies, the cargo ultimately intended for European markets. The wreck was discovered by British marine salvor Michael Hatcher in May 1999. His team recovered around 350,000 pieces of porcelain from the wreck – the largest recovery of Chinese shipwreck ceramics to date. The cargo was auctioned by Nagel Auctions in Stuttgart, Germany, in November 2000.
