This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is quite "heavily-potted" for its type, coated in a thick crackled glaze and decorated with the "double phoenix" pattern, two phoenixes standing facing each other, presumably male and female, surrounded by foliage and blossoms. Swatow, or Zhangzhou ceramics, were often exported to the South East Asian market. A common feature of such ware is the sand / kiln grit that adheres to the glaze on the underside. 

This example was excavated from the "Binh Thuan" wreck for which there is evidence suggesting it was the junk owned by a merchant, I Sin Ho, that sank in 1608 off the south of Vietnam on its way from China to Johore. whilst transporting a cargo for the Dutch.

Diameter 26.5 cm (10.5 inches). No restoration or repair. A superior example in fine condition.

Provenance/ information: The "Binh Thuan" shipwreck was first discovered in 2001. The wreck was subsequently excavated by Martime Explorations in conjunction with the Vietnam Salvage Corporation (Visal), the Binh Thuan People's Committee, and the Ministry of Culture. We contacted Dr. Michael Flecker of Maritime Explorations who kindly put us in touch with an Australian company who, we understand, had been involved in the financing of the salvage operation. The quality of the dishes from this wreck varied greatly from broken and damaged dishes, or intact dishes but with poor colour, to superior examples in perfect condition with the cobalt blue design of very good colour. From this company we bought a selection of the finest quality dishes ("A+") that we subsequently sold to a local Sussex collector. This was in 2004, the same year that the bulk of the cargo from this wreck was sold in a prestigious sale at Christie's in Melbourne, Australia. We have recently bought back those dishes from the Sussex collector and this is one of the group that we now offer for sale. 

Dr. Flecker's archaeological report on the Binh Thuan Shipwreck can be downloaded at this address: www.maritime-explorations.com/BinhThuan.pdf 

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