Chinese Han Terracotta Figure

Modelled in the round wearing a tight-fitting ankle-length robe draped over the left arm; tiered headdress and long-lobed ears; hand arms bent and hands raised palm-outwards; mounted on a custom-made stand. 399 grams total, 20 cm high including stand



From a family collection mostly formed in the 1940s-1950s, thence by descent.

Squat glazed bowl with painted segmented band below the rim; broad-bowled spoon with hooked lug finial. 127 grams total, 10.6-11.5 cm



Ex Nagel Auction, with official Tek Sing Treasure labels to verso. Accompanied by an illustrated information sheet about the Tek Sing shipwreck.

The Tek Sing (True Star) wreck is one of the famous recovery stories of the 20th century. Sailing from the port of Xiamen (then known as Amoy) in February 1822 the vessel Tek Sing was bound for Jakarta, Indonesia laden with porcelain goods and 1600 Chinese emigrants. The captain decided to pass through the Gaspar Strait, between the Bangka-Belitung Islands, and ran aground on a reef. The vessel sank in about 100 feet of water. The next morning, February 7, an English East Indiaman captained by James Pearl, passing through the same waters, encountered debris and some survivors and managed to rescue about 190 of the latter.

Seated on a low folding chair, with elaborately dressed hair and blusher on her cheeks, dressed in a draped robe, cloud slippers emerging from beneath the hem; arms raised within the sleeves exposing one delicate hand holding a scallop-shaped fan. 1.4 kg, 29 cm



From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.C122k21 from Oxford Authentication. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12448-226142.