A set of 4 small blue and white porcelain vases, China, ca 1690: all from the ‘Vung Tau Cargo’, various sizes, 15.5 cm high maximum (hairlines and restorations). We add 1 similar vase, restored

Provenance: Christie's, Amsterdam, 7-8 April 1992

The porcelains known as the “Vung Tau Cargo” come from a shipwreck discovered in the 1980s in the South China Sea, near Vung Tau, Vietnam. The vessel, which sank around 1690, was carrying an impressive cargo comprising more than 48,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, probably destined for Batavia (present-day Jakarta), then a major hub of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Consisting largely of Kangxi-period (r. 1661–1722) blue and white wares, these pieces illustrate the flourishing, under this emperor’s reign, of a substantial production of export porcelain, made in a wide variety of forms. Often modest in size, they were intended in particular for the Dutch market, where they were incorporated into interior decoration, as can be seen in paintings of the period. More broadly, they also responded to the European taste for Chinese porcelain, especially blue and white wares. On 7 and 8 April 1992, approximately 28,000 pieces, including those presented here, were offered at auction at Christie’s Amsterdam. This group constitutes one of the most important testimonies to the maritime trade in Chinese porcelain at the end of the 17th century.

四件約1690年青花瓷小瓶

均來自「Vung Tau Cargo」

有裂紋及經修復

附一件相似瓶，經修復

A set of 4 small blue and white porcelain vases, China, ca 1690: all from the ‘Vung Tau Cargo’, various sizes, 15.5 cm high maximum (hairlines and restorations). We add 1 similar vase, restored

Provenance: Christie's, Amsterdam, 7-8 April 1992

The porcelains known as the “Vung Tau Cargo” come from a shipwreck discovered in the 1980s in the South China Sea, near Vung Tau, Vietnam. The vessel, which sank around 1690, was carrying an impressive cargo comprising more than 48,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, probably destined for Batavia (present-day Jakarta), then a major hub of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Consisting largely of Kangxi-period (r. 1661–1722) blue and white wares, these pieces illustrate the flourishing, under this emperor’s reign, of a substantial production of export porcelain, made in a wide variety of forms. Often modest in size, they were intended in particular for the Dutch market, where they were incorporated into interior decoration, as can be seen in paintings of the period. More broadly, they also responded to the European taste for Chinese porcelain, especially blue and white wares. On 7 and 8 April 1992, approximately 28,000 pieces, including those presented here, were offered at auction at Christie’s Amsterdam. This group constitutes one of the most important testimonies to the maritime trade in Chinese porcelain at the end of the 17th century.

四件約1690年青花瓷小瓶

均來自「Vung Tau Cargo」

有裂紋及經修復

附一件相似瓶，經修復

Overall wear to the surfaces

Some firing imperfections
Covers possibly mismatched, do not hold very well
Some surface scratches
Glaze smoothed and matte
Some chips
Some hairlines due to firing and hairlines
1 restored

Some areas ground
Some marine accretions