Mike Hatcher

Michael "Mike" Hatcher (born 1940) is a British explorer and marine salvor.

He has specialised in work in the South China Sea. In 1981 he was involved in investigating the wreck of Dutch submarine K XVII.

He is especially known for his recovery of large quantities of Chinese porcelain from the VOC ship Geldermalsen (known as the "Nanking cargo") which was sold at auction by Christie's in Amsterdam in 1986.

In 1999 he discovered the Tek Sing shipwreck and retrieved 360,000 pieces of porcelain.

With a total of more than 350,000 pieces of porcelain, this is the greatest porcelain treasure that has ever been recovered. The cargo originates from the Tek Sing, a junk whose history British shipping researcher Nigel Pickford was able to reconstruct in unprecedented detail. It is the story of an incredible shipping disaster with more than 1600 dead (and was consequently entitled the “Titanic of the East” by SPIEGEL news magazine). The story conjures up an exciting and moving picture of opium smuggling, economic difficulties and mass emigration in the early 19th century.

The catalogue itself broke new ground being a valuable reference work on porcelain for professional circles. It also served as an auction catalogue in conjunction with the auction list featuring all the individual lots.

The extent and character of the salvaged cargo made it necessary to set new standards for the auction: never before had auction wares been so elaborately exhibited and previewed; never before had such large quantities of one type of goods been auctioned off; never before had an opportunity existed to acquire antique porcelain with such a fascinating and tragic history at reasonable prices - nor is such an opportunity likely to occur again; never before had an auction taken place nearly round the clock for 9 consecutive days; never had an auction been held simultaneously in so many auction rooms around the world.

The treasure recovered from the Chinese junk Tek Sing was immense: more than 350, 000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, most of it in impeccable condition. The porcelain was stowed in the tower cargo holds of the ship, where it also served as ballast to stabilize the enormous ship. Further items such as mercury, sextants, pocket watches, cannons, coins and other merchandise were also salvaged. The recovery was the largest in salvage history.

Most of the porcelain was blue-white porcelain manufactured in the Chinese city of Dehua in the 18th and early 19th century for export to Asian markets. Other categories of porcelain from different periods were also found, dating back as far the 15th century. The cargo contained a remarkable amount of porcelain of different shapes and sizes but with identical decoration. It gave buyers in the 21st century the opportunity to compose complete dinner sets with Qing porcelain that has lain on the bottom of the sea for 200 years. As the merchandise had not been made for the European markets, shapes and patterns were not adapted to European taste, but were genuinely Chinese.

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Wikipedia