A Chinese blue and white 'Hatcher cargo' bottle vase, Transitional period

H.: 37,5 cm

Condition: (UV-checked)
- With deteriorated glaze typical of the Hatcher cargo.
- A few baking flaws throughout.
- A number of small superficial chips around the foot rim.
- A hairline of ca. 8 cm above the base rim.

品相：（已用紫外线光检查）
- 透明釉面有侵蚀损伤，属于沉船件的正常现象。
- 瓶身一些小窑伤。
- 底足一圈小飞皮。
- 底边上方一条垂直的冲线，长约8厘米。

The Hatcher Cargo :
The Hatcher Cargo was the first salvaged ceramics cargo from a shipwreck to come on to the market. It was dispersed during several auctions by Christie`s, in Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985. Still today 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. For example, blue and white porcelain dishes decorated with a coiled serpent recovered from the Hatcher Cargo match an important dish from the fall of the Ming dynasty, formerly in the Percival David Foundation, now at the British Museum London, this dish can be dated to 1644 - 1645. 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 datable by inscription to the spring of 1643. Although 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.