A Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Jar and Cover c.1643, From the Private Collection of Michael Hatcher.

Chongzhen c.1643

A Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Jar and Cover, Chongzheng Period c.1643. From the Private Collection of Michael Hatcher sold at Christie’s Amsterdam; The Private Collection of Captain M.Hatcher, 14 February 1985, lot 105. It sold for fl.4,104 (converted into pounds, showing the pound at today’s value, it equals around £4,500 or £5,500). Decorated in rich tones of cobalt blue with leaf shaped reserves against a blue cracked-ice ground with flowering lotus in reserves around the two leaf panels. One of the leaf shaped panels is painted with two large jars next two a rectangular plant pot which has flowering lotus growing from the water, two the left is a tripod censer. The other leaf shaped panel has a design of a tall vase with two peacock feathers, there are peonies grown from a decorative jardiniere, to the left, partly obscured by the large vase, is a tall fish bowl with two fish visible near the surface. The base is typical of this type of Transitional porcelain, it is unglazed and flat. The style of decoration, with the V-shaped grass is what is referred to as Hight Transitional, a phrase coined by Sir Michael Butler.

See Below for More Photographs and Information.

SALE PENDING

Condition: In excellent condition, the blue is very strong and the glaze shows no sign of being in the sea. Firing crack to the base.
Size: Height 19.8 cm (7.8 inches).
Provenance: A Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Jar and Cover, Chongzheng Period c.1643, from the private collection of Michael Hatcher sold at Christie's Amsterdam; The Private Collection of Captain M.Hatcher, 14 February 1985, lot 105. Christies auction label inside the cover.
Stock number: 27268
References: For related Hatcher Cargo porcelain, and a painting by Willem Kalf (1619 – 1693) showing a Transitional jar of this type, scroll down the page to 'Information'.

Photos

Information

The Hatcher Cargo :
The Hatcher Cargo was the first porcelain cargo from a shipwreck to come on to the market. It was sold in several auctions in Christie`s Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985. It remains one of the most important cargoes of shipwreck ceramics ever recovered, despite the lack of historical evidence recorded by the salvage team. Two porcelain covers dated 1643 helped date the wreck but this needed corroborating to give a firm date of the wreck and its cargo.

The dating of the porcelain from the Hatcher Cargo is based on several elements. Firstly, the ceramics recovered form a coherent group, in other words they appear to all have been made at the same time. Secondly comparative dating was used to corroborate the date of the porcelain. Other comparative dating is also consistent with the presumed date of the porcelain. However, the most important dating reference remains the two covers recovered from the wreck datatable by inscription to the spring of 1643. Although the the Ming dynasty officially ended in 1644 the transition from the Ming to the beginning of the Qing was messy and protracted. The porcelain made during this period of civil war and chaos is referred to as `Transitional Porcelain`. It covers the period from the last Ming Emperors until the early years of the Kangxi period, which is normally given a date of about 1620 to 1670 . The Hatcher Cargo is a vital dating tool for this previously poorly understood period of Chinese porcelain production.

Christie's Amsterdam Auction ;

The Private Collection of Captain M.Hatcher,

14 February 1985, Lot 105.

A Similar, but broader, Transitional Porcelain Jar and Cover

in Willem Kalf's Painting of 1669

Willem Kalf (1619 – 1693) 'Still Life with a Ming Porcelain Jar' 1669. Indianapolis Museum of Art

This painting by Willem Kalf of 1669 is typical of still-life painting during the Dutch Golden Age. Kalf was at the forefront of this luxurious painting of luxurious objects and dominating this image is late Ming jar and cover from around 1640. Exotic, oriental and like nothing else in Europe this type of Chinese blue and white fascinated the Dutch, indeed they are famous copies of it, Delftware. This import by the V.O.C. was especially made for the Dutch market and fitting on top of large pieces of oak furniture, so popular at the time. Further exotic items in Kalf's still life include a 'Turkey carpet', citrus fruit but also luxury items made in the Netherlands, such as the silver dish. In the 1650s and '60s, as the Netherlands flourished due to its commerce and pro-commercial politics, Kalf perfected the pronk (display) still life to exhibit its prosperity. Goethe thought he succeeded, saying of Kalf's paintings that "there is no question that should I have the choice of the golden vessels or the picture, I would choose the picture."

Photograph in the manner of the 'Dutch Golden' Age by Maaike Eijgenraam 2019 — Photograph in the manner of the 'Dutch Golden Age' by Maaike Eijgenraam 2019.

Hatcher Cargo from Robert McPherson Antiques Sold Archive.

We have many more Hatcher cargo pieces in our Sold Archive.

A Pair of Hatcher Cargo Blue and White Porcelain Jars and Covers c.1643.

Robert McPherson Antiques

Sold Archive 249845

A pair of Transitional Porcelain jars and covers, late Ming porcelain from Chongzhen period c.1643. Recovered from the ‘Hatcher Junk’ and sold in Christie’s in Amsterdam in 1984. The well painted jars are decorated in rich tones of cobalt blue with a cracked-ice ground with two leaf-shaped reserves, one containing a Phoenix with the other depicting a Qilin. The crack-ice ground is painted with flowering lotus and peony. The tops of the flat covers are decorated with lotus.

A Rare Hatcher Cargo Ming Blue and White Teapot or Wine Ewer c.1643.

Robert McPherson Antiques

Sold Archive 26031

From the private collection of Michael Hatcher sold at Christie's Amsterdam; The Private Collection of Captain M.Hatcher, 14 February 1985,

A Fine and Rare Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Teapot or Wine Ewer from the Hatcher Cargo. Late Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen Period c.1643.

Transitional Period : Late Ming to Early Qing.

The roots of this unsettled period starts during the later part of Wanli`s reign (1573-1620). At the begging of his reign China was doing very well, new crops from the Americas such as peanuts, maize and sweet potatoes increased food production, while simplified taxes helped the state run smoothly. But this was not due to Wanli`s enlightened reign, but to his Mother championing a man that was to become the Ming dynasties most able minister, Zhang Zhuzheng (1525—1583). Wanli became resentful of Zhuzheng`s control but upon his death became withdrawn from court life. Between 1589 to 1615 he didn`t appear at imperial audiences, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by squabbling ministers. Mongols from the North raided as Japan invaded Korea. Wanli re-opened the silver mines and imposed new taxes but the money was lost due to corruption, as well as being frittered away by the indulgent Emperor himself . The next emperor of Ming China, Tianqi (1621-1627), was bought up in this self indulgent disorganised environment, at the very young age 15 his short reign started. He didn`t stand a chance. Tianqi made the mistake of entrusting eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627) who Anna Paludan in her excellent book “Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors” (Thames and Hudson, 1998) describes as “a gangster of the first order”. Tianqi was deemed to have lost the Mandate of heaven by the Ming people. Tianqi`s younger brother, the last of the Ming Emperors, Chongzhen (1628-1644), was not able to save the situation. The systems of administration had broken down, corruption was rife and so when a sever famine broke out in 1628 nothing much could be done. Anna Paludan describes the tragic end to the great Ming Dynasty “The final drama was worthy of a Greek tragedy. The emperor called a last council in which `all were silent and many wept`, the imperial troops fled or surrendered, and the emperor, after helping his two sons escape in disguise, got drunk and rushed through the palace ordering the women to kill themselves. The empress and Tianqi`s widow committed suicide; the emperor hacked off the arm of one daughter before killing her sister and the concubines. At dawn he laid his dragon robe aside and dressed in purple and yellow, with one foot bare, climbed the hill behind the now silent palace and hanged himself on a locust tree”. The Great Wall of China, started 2,000 years ago was built to protect China from the Northern barbarian hoards, it was often tested and sometimes failed. The Jin people invaded China, ruling the North between 1115 and 1234, it was their descendants the Manchus, Jurchens from south east Manchuria that took full advantage of the problems of the Ming dynasty. In 1636 they adopted a Chinese dynastic name, the `Great Qing` (Qing meaning pure). The first of the Qing emperors was Shunzhi (1644-1661) but for most of his reign his uncle ran the state. War raged on during this period and it wasn`t until the second Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) that true peace was achieved. Kangxi was a wise and educated man, he became a highly successful emperor bringing China a long period of wealth and stability.
Shunzhi was emperor of Manchuria between Oct. 8, 1643-Oct. 30, 1644. Officially proclaimed emperor of China on Oct. 30, 1644. The Shunzhi Emperor (March 15, 1638–February 5, 1661?) was the second emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper from 1644 to 1661.