Bidspirit auction | Chinese Export Nanking Cargo Spittoon

Chinese Export Nanking Cargo Spittoon - Chinese export Nanking Cargo blue and white vomit cuspidor or spitoon, Qianlong ca. 1750. Decorated along the flared rim with stiff-leaf tips and blue branch with leaves along the side. This vessel would have been decorated with an Imari design, but the iron-red and gilt have been washed away by the sea. Illustrated in Howard, ”Choice of the Private Trader, ” pg. 228, no. 269. Provenance: Christie's, Amsterdam, ”The Nanking Cargo - Chinese Export Porcelain and Gold, ” 28 April 1986, Lot 4735; Cohen & Pearce, London, 12 June 1986; The Distinguished Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff. Reference: Jorg, ”The Geldermalsen, ” pg. 78-9. Lot Essay: The VOC ordered cuspidors from around 1737 onwards with the design remaining essentially the same from about 1700. From the shipwreck of the Geldermalsen, around 245 of the 299 shown in the cargo manifest were recovered by Captain Michael Hatcher. From the wreck of the Geldermalsen, a Dutch East India Company merchant ship traveling from China to the Netherlands when it hit a coral reef and sank in the South China Sea, 1752. British explorer and marine salvage expert Michael Hatcher recovered porcelain and gold ingots from the shipwreck in 1985. Height: 3 1/4 in x diameter: 5 in. Condition: No noticeable cracks, losses, or repairs when inspected under UV light. Light wear to the footrim.