Shipwrecks, Marine Archeology and Antique pottery from South China Sea
THE VALUE OF SHIPWRECKS, MARINE ARCHEOLOGY AND RELATED ANTIQUE POTTERY
Shipwrecks which remain undisturbed on the seabed for centuries provide vital information about the past. The challenge of archeology is to understand the past by studying material traces. On land, archaeologists may excavate burial sites, lost monuments or deposited waste. At sea, marine archaeologists may excavate ships fully loaded with today's antique pottery. Object on board are usually assumed to be contemporary products dating from the year of sinking. Antique pottery recovered from such dated assemblages in the South China Sea, yield important clues about Asia's ceramics developments and associated maritime trade.
TIME CAPSULES:
Dating antique pottery from production or burial sites often gives conflicting results. Neither stratigraphy nor scientific dating is problem free. Items included in burials are particularily likely to be some years old by the date of internment. Ceramic cargo found on shipwrecks is however likely to be contemporary. Scientific, stylistic and historical analysis are all relevent for dating. Cross-referencing the results of related shipwrecks can make the resultant puzzle more complex, but ultimately allow dating with greater precision. The nine shipwrecks introduced here are such perfect time capsules.
"As time capsules, each with content deposited at a single moment in time, these are more valid as dating evidence than are decades of scholarly guesswork based on unprovenanced museum collections"
(Asian Ceramic Research Organization)
The European East India ships of
the 17th century provided the first direct contact with Asia's spices,
silk and ceramics.
The Asian's had a well developed trading system already by the 9th century. Pottery at that time was based on old tradtions.
Six centuy old underglaze black decorations
from the Turiang shipwreck
The advantages with one company, one objective and archeology approach is maybe best seen in the below collection of ceramics. These pieces are all from the Sisatchanalai kilns but found on four different shipwrecks. These antique pottery, as will be seen, clearly shows the technical and stylistic developments at those kilns. This type of comparisons has not been done earlier, simply because not one organisation had access to all the materials necessary for such comparison. For more information about the different shipwrecks, cargo and respective dates, please refer to below links.
To purchase antique pottery from these shipwrecks, go to:
A Chinese vessel carrying early Sung dynasty pottery and marked bronze gongs
A Chinese ship loaded with Yuan/Ming dynasty celadon, early Thai green-glazed wares and underglaze painted wares
A Chinese vessel carrying Thai Singburi storage jars and Sisatchanalai underglaze covered boxes
The earliest Southeast Asian
ship loaded with Sisatchanalai celadon and Sukhothai
underglaze painted plates
An early Southeast Asian ship carrying Chinese white wares and fine celadon plates from the Sisatchanalai kilns
No ship was found on this site. It did however yield Chinese porcelain, maked with emperor Xuande's reign mark
Another Southeast Asian built vessel loaded with the finest of all celadons from the Sisatchanalai kilns
Historical shipwrecks with cargoes of porcelain and pottery are perfect time capsules if coupled with proper marine archaeology. Frozen in time, shipwrecks provide an accurate insight into antique pottery from specific times in history; - the date when the ship was lost. From these shipwrecks we can study old time pottery, shipbuilding designs, construction methods and then cross-refer with trade goods that was traded at these different times in history.
From the shipwrecks presented here, and the marine archeology made, we understand how the
early Chinese monopoly on ceramic export was challenged in the 14th - 16th century by two
rivaling Thai kiln complexes, each making different types of traditional Chinese pottery. It also
becomes clear that the Chinese regained its monopoly in the 17th century when the Europeans
entered into the Asian trade network.
To read more about the Shipwrecks, marine archeology, old time pottery and antique pottery click on its respective link:
CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGES TO VIEW ARTIFACTS FOR SALE
Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC. Delaware. USA
THE ONLY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE SURE TO BUY GENUINE ANTIQUES
Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd. was incorporated on the recommendation of the Malaysian authorities. This was done in order to formalize and to expand on the company’s researcher’s extensive knowledge of Asia’s ceramic developments and maritime trade.
The company’s researchers have been engaged in the search for historical shipwrecks for more than two decades and another decade researching maritime trade. Most of this work is concentrated to the South China Sea, a virtual highway for ancient shipping linking China to India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia in an extensive maritime trade system. This ancient trade started sometime around the 4th century and lasted well into the 19th century.
Following a successful shipwreck discovery, the company obtain a government permit to excavate the wreckage, and then carry out detailed marine archaeological procedures in recovering the artifacts, mapping the ship's remains and securing other data for future research. After each concluded project and following conservation of recovered artifacts, we search for and pinpoint ruined kiln sites and compare its wasters with the recovered ceramics until we are satisfied we located the place in which the shipwreck pottery was made centuries earlier.
As such we have precisely located a kiln sites in Sisatchanalai, northern Thailand in which our Royal Nanhai and the Nanyang shipwreck celadon ware was made around AD. 1380-1460. (See videos on: http://www.china-pottery.com/photopage.html ) Other kilns was located in Sukhothai where production wasters matched the fish and flower plates found on the Turiang and the Longquan shipwreck. These unique underglaze decorated wares was made at those exact kilns 600 years earlier! Our latest shipwreck cargo; The Wanli Shipwreck, of Chinese blue and white porcelain, was likewise pinpointed to the Guangyinge kiln site in Jingdezhen, China. (See video on: http://www.china-pottery.com/photopage.html )
Our arrangement with the Malaysian authorities is such that we finance all operations and train young Malaysian nationals (on our initiative) in maritime archaeology and related research. After giving all unique and single artifacts and thirty percent of all recovered items to the National Museum (and assisting with exhibitions of artifacts from each project) we are allowed to sell our portion of the recovery to finance future projects. The findings from ongoing research and the compilation of reports, books and catalogues are available on these pages as well as on a separate Internet site: http://www.maritimeasia.ws
Due to the unquestionable authenticity and precisely dated shipwreck pottery, many International Museums now display our shipwreck pieces as reference material.
The artifacts sold on this website are therefore legally and properly excavated and can be supplied with an export permit from the Department of Museum in Malaysia should this be required. This unique working arrangement makes us one of the few Internet sellers that sell from own excavation and issues a meaningful Certificate of Authenticity for every (numbered) piece sold.
So, if you are interested to purchase some of our Antique porcelain, old time pottery or other shipwreck artifacts from the Song dynasty, Ming porcelain or Chinese blue and white porcelain or the famous Yixing teapots, you can rest assured that every piece is excavated through proper archaeology by our own staff. We do not sell anything that is not excavated by ourselves or properly recorded and researched before offered for sale so every piece comes with the “Best possible provenance”
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO EMAIL OUR PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER; Sten Sjostrand SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR POSSIBLE PURCHASE
A site loaded with information about ancient shipwreck ceramics including; antique porcelain, old time pottery & Chinese porcelain.
Affordable antique porcelain and pottery. These are the cheapest available on the net.
Early Chinese porcelain and pottery from the South China Sea shipwrecks
OTHER INTERESTING WEBPAGES RELATED TO ANTIQUE PORCELAIN, OLD TIME POTTERY, CHINESE PORCELAIN AND OTHER MING POTTERY. ALL OF IT WITH IMPECCABLE PROVENANCE!
Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC Delaware, USA
as agents for Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd.
25 Jalan Wawasan Jaya. 26 820 Kuala Rompin. Malaysia
