Lot 182

In good order with restoration to one handle mount and edge of cover, natural firing flaws to base and cover


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Leonard Joel makes no guarantee of the originality of mechanical or applied components. Absence of reference to such modifications does not imply that a lot is free from modifications.

Purchased from Christie's, Amsterdam, Nanking Cargo Auction, 1 May, 1986, Lot 4521 (part of)

This butter dish was part of the famous Nanking Cargo, that had been intended for export to Holland from Canton in 1752 aboard the Dutch East India Ship, the Geldermalsen. This butter dish is one of more than 150,000 pieces that survived for 235 years at the bottom of the South China Sea, discovered off the island of Singapore, well protected having been neatly packed within crates of tea.
For an almost identical example, please see the butter dish in the British Museum Collection, London, museum number: 1986,0701.18.a