Abstract 

This presentation explores a large transitional Ming–Qing Jingdezhen porcelain Kraak bowl recovered from the 17th-century Hatcher Wreck (1643–46 CE) in Indonesian waters. Commercially salvaged and commodified, the bowl was first auctioned at Christie’s Amsterdam in 1984 and now forms part of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum collection.

Through archival research, material-culture analysis, iconographic comparison, and archaeological investigation, the study traces the bowl’s shifting identity, provenance, and significance. Findings suggest that its design is not a generic waterscape, but a politically charged commission linked to the 1644 assassination attempt on the Dutch Governor-General in Batavia, the Dutch East India Company’s trading post in present-day Jakarta. The imagery represents Batavia as a contested “third space,” capturing resistance to Dutch colonial authority through a hybrid visual language on Chinese porcelain.

Rather than a mere export ware or household item, the bowl emerges as a visual record of political tensions in the early modern maritime world. Its disrupted biography illustrates how artefacts can embody contested histories, while also raising questions about the ethics of working with treasure-hunted shipwreck material. Ultimately, the presentation highlights how a single object can illuminate lost political narratives and deepen our understanding of colonial encounters in Asia.

Sarah Ward Biography 

Sarah Ward is Dalian Maritime University’s first Professor of Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage, based at the Centre for Maritime History and Culture Research. Established in 1909, DMU is China’s leading maritime institution and an International Maritime Organization Centre of Excellence for Teaching. An Asia-capable global Australian with extensive experience in the region, Sarah is also Executive Director of the Council for Asian Underwater Cultural Heritage (CAUCH). She serves as Consultant Foreign Expert to China’s National Centre for Archaeology, Co-Director of the China–Cambodia Underwater Cultural Heritage Cooperation, Chair of the Asian Regional Underwater Cultural Heritage Workshop series and is an associate of the Sydney China Studies Centre. Her work focuses on collaborative and transformative approaches to investigating, protecting, and managing Asia’s unique underwater cultural heritage, while fostering meaningful connections between people and the ocean.