Pair of Shipwreck-Recovered Ming Dynasty Blue and White Swatow Zhangzhou Porcelain Dishes (Related Forms) C. 1600

Details

Description

A striking and historically rich pair of Zhangzhou ware dishes from the Ming dynasty, recovered from a South China Sea … Read more A striking and historically rich pair of Zhangzhou ware dishes from the Ming dynasty, recovered from a South China Sea shipwreck—possibly from the Binh Thuan (auctioned by Christie’s Melbourne in 2004) or Batam wreck, both dated to the early 17th century (c. 1600–1620). These related forms differ in size but feature near-identical decoration: a phoenix-like bird perched amid peonies and bamboo, encircled by alternating lotus panels and fish-scale borders in vibrant cobalt underglaze.

Closely comparable examples are held in major museum collections—including one featured in James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Additional examples of the single-phoenix design have surfaced from the Batam wreck, which contained similarly decorated Zhangzhou plates, though with more limited decorative variety than the Binh Thuan cargo.

These dishes bear heavy encrustation, marine accretions, and pitting consistent with prolonged submersion, and retain original registration labels from the National Museum of the Philippines, which catalogued authenticated shipwreck finds.

Dimensions:
Larger dish: Approx. 9.75” diameter
Smaller dish: Approx. 7” diameter

Provenance:

Registered with the National Museum of the Philippines. Likely recovered from either the Binh Thuan (Christie’s, 2004) or Batam shipwreck, both dated c. 1600–1620. A nearly identical dish is in the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art, accession no. F1991.47. See less