C. 1822

A fine blue and white porcelain saucer dish with a slightly flared rim, beautifully painted in cobalt blue, displaying traditional Chinese motifs with various plants around and issuing from central rockwork. The dish is framed by a single ring with the underside decorated with three floral sprays to the shoulders.

Complete with original TEK SING inventory numbers (stickers). This piece has been officially recorded and auctioned in Nagel Auctions, Stuttgart, Germany in November 2000 official stickers are affixed.

The piece is a fine, early example of Chinese export ware with a fascinating history.

The Tek Sing “True Star” was one of the last of the great Chinese ocean-going junks. She was an unusually large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk laden with a large cargo of porcelain goods, which sank on February 6th 1822 in an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvidere Shoals. This Chinese ocean-going junk was part of a tradition leading back to the days of the legendary Treasure Ships. Sailing from the port of Amoy (now Xiamen in Fujian) the Tek Sing was bound for Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). After a month of sailing captain, Lo Tauko, decided to take a shortcut through the Gaspar Straight between the Bangka-Belitung Islands, and ran aground on a reef. Approximately 2000 people were on board when she sank with a loss of life greater than that of the Titanic. The Tek Sing sank in about 100 feet of water. The Tek Sing wreck was discovered by marine salvor Michael Hatcher on May 12th 1999, in an area of the South China Sea north of Java, east of Sumatra and south of Singapore. Most of the porcelains recovered were blue-white porcelain from early the 19th century, manufactured in Dehua kilns in Fujian Province.

In excellent condition with fine detail and strong colour. Some encrustation to reverse.

Size: 205mm diam