Antique Titanic Of The East Chinese Tek Sing Shipwreck Bamboo Wetland Plate For Sale

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A beautiful, fascinating antique plate, salvaged from the famous Tek Sing Wreck, and dating to approximately 1822.

The porcelain plate is well formed and survives in remarkable condition, depite its near 200 years on the ocean floor. The piece is confidently painted with thick brush-strokes, depicting bamboo amongst adreamy, watery landscape.

One of the most understated, beautiful ceramicsexcavated from the wreck of the Tek Sing.

The underside of the plate contains the official Tek Sing treasure sticker and barcode,confirming the item'sprovenance and legal status on the art market.

The Tek Sing is probably the most important Antique shipwreck ever discovered. This once magnificent vessel has rightly been compared to that most famous of ships, the Titanic. The Tek Sing, which means "True Star", was a Huge Trading Junk, measuring 165 feet long and weighing over 1000 tonnes. It left from Amoy in Southern China carrying the largest quantity of porcelain known from anywreck. The ship was destined for the port of Jakarta in Indonesia, from where the valuable cargo would be distributed to the lucrative Eastern and European markets. The Tek Sing also carried a human cargo - 1600 immigrants and nearly 400 crew and merchants. The immigrants were all Chinese, hoping to escape the Economic problems of Early 19th Century China, which were a prelude to the first Opium War.

An ill-fated decision by the Ship's captain to take a short-cut through the Gaspar Strait resulted in catastrophic damage to the ship, the death of 90% of those on board and the complete loss of its porcelain cargo to the cold waters of the South China Sea. The remnants of the Ship and its 190 surviving passengers were discovered the next morning by James Pearl and later recorded in Hursburgh's "Directions for sailing to the East Indies", 1848. The wreck was subsequently forgotten until its rediscovery in 1999 by salvage expert Michael Hatcher, who used Hursburgh's book of 1848 as his starting point! After this momentous discovery the precious porcelain cargo was carefully removed, conserved and legally sold under the authority of the Nagel Tek Sing Treasures cooperative.

ArtAncient Limitedis pleased to have acquired an enormousnumber and significant percentageof the officially recorded Tek Sing cargo.In contrast to many examples that appear on the market, of dubious legality and authenticity, this piece has the original Nagel sticker andbarcode on the underside. This guarantees legitimate provenance (or ownership history), of paramount importance in today's market. The recent ratifications of the UNESCO convention by South East Asian countries, mean that public-private cooperatives, as were required to excavate the Tek Sing cargo and legitimately sell it on the market, are unlikely to ever be repeated. Consequently, shipwreck pieces such as this with an official provenance constitute a fantastic investment opportunity, being as they are 'finite' in supply.

Diameter:3 3/8inches.

Condition: Unrestored and inexcellent condition.

Stand shown is property of thephotography studio but a similar prop may be purchased from our store, under accessories.

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This item has been shown times. Antique Titanic Of The East Chinese Tek Sing Shipwreck Bamboo Wetland Plate: $53