TWO CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE JARLETS WITH COVERS INCLUDING A RARE UPSIDE-DOWN-DECORATED JAR.

Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen period, circa 1635-1644.

Of barrel shaped form decorated with sprays of bamboo emerging from a rock, the flat covers similarly decorated, 5cm H. (4)

Provenance: Christie’s Amsterdam, Hatcher Collection, June 1984 [label].

明崇禎 青花蓋罐繪竹紋蓋罐兩件

來源：1984年3月14日，Hatcher收藏專場拍賣（標籤）。

An interesting feature of the present pair is that one of them has the decoration painted on upside down. It is unclear whether this was an intentionally playful and irreverent act of ceramic artist, or whether it was an accidental reminder of the fallibility of humankind.

Chinese porcelain from shipwrecks tell an important story and three major shipwrecks of wares gave important information on wares of the 17th and 18th Centuries. The first cargo to come to market was the Hatcher Cargo, sold over several auctions in Christie`s Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985. Two porcelain covers dated 1643 helped to date the wreck but this needed corroborating to give a firm date of the wreck and its cargo. The romance of lost treasures recovered from the sea helped catch the public imagination and the Hatcher Cargo sale which achieved a record result at the time of 13.2 million USD.

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