Sheaf, Colin & Kilburn, Richard, The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes. The Complete Record.
Overview and general presentation of the two first of Michael Hatchers porcelain cargoes, the Ming junk cargo (c. 1643-1646) from a seventeenth century Chinese junk, and the Dutch East Indiaman Geldermalsen that foundered in 1752.
I think this is a good reference for the Hatcher cargoes, in particular the 1640’s junk. This book and the actual auction catalogs covers it very well. I would not call this book indispensable but the color pictures of the 1640s junk cargo are good and considering the precise dating of the pieces this is a valuable reference.
192 pages
212 illustrations of which 138 in color
Phaidon/Christies, 1988.
ISBN. 0 7148 8046 9
This book is a highly readable presentation of Sten Sjöstrands latest maritime excavation adventure. It details the finding and recovery of a cargo of Chinese Wanli style “kraak” porcelain. The book sets a new world standard on how to report on martime salvage operations. To us who are long time members of the Gotheborg Discussion Board, it is especially comforting to among the acknowledgements find that our Tim Hartill has provided the bulk of the ceramic related research that this book references. Since this is a collected shipwreck where all pieces dates to more or less the same period it gives important information on which shapes and decoration that actually was made at the same time. And on this point it seems that the porelain history needs to be rewritten in some no small matters. This is no doubt one of the best books ever written about kraak porcelain and will become an important standard reference.
“The maritime archaeology of Sten Sjöstrand has led to major advances in the study of Asian trade and trade ceramics in Southeast Asia. His meticulous documentation of a series of nine shipwrecks from the 11th to 19th centuries reveals the early dominance of Chinese trade ceramics, a subsequent loss of the Chinese monopoly in the late 14th century when Southeast Asian ceramics entered the market, the basic parameters of the Ming gap shortages of the 14th-15th centuries, and a resurgence of Chinese wares in the 16th and 17th centuries. A lifetime’s experience with the sea and sailing allows Sjöstrand to bring new understanding to ancient ship construction, and his voluminous reading allows him to set the ships and their cargoes in historical perspective. This publication delivers the sort of precise data that will stand the test of time and be mined by future scholars for studies to come on Asian history. The thoroughness displayed in this catalogue is a testament to his passion and devotion to mapping ancient maritime trade and trade goods during more than two decades of dedicated work”.
Dr. Roxanna M. Brown
Director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum, Bangkok University
We are also looking forward to a more full review to be published in the upcoming number of Arts of Asia.
JE
27 X 27 cm, 360 pages. More than 650 color photographs, sketches, tables and maps. High quality (150 gm) paper . Total weight 2.5 kilo
This is a very interesting book considering the time this ship appears to have sunk. Quite a lot of the cargo consists of pieces that in the antiques trade usually has been given the label Kangxi. Since quite a number of the pieces actually carries the Yongzheng (1723-1735) reign mark, that theory obviously needs to go. This is a really good reference book for this expansive perion in the history of Chinese Export porcelain findin ite palace right between the Vung Tau (c. 1700) and the Gotheborg (1745).
The book is of 258 pages (96 pages of text, 386 photographs, and 21 pages of ceramics designs) and many line drawings. The book was based on the report complied by the Excavations Committee together with data and records relating to the artifacts collected by the two provincial museums of Binh Thuan and Ca Mau, from 1998-2000.
The contents includes the archaeological excavations of Ca Mau shipwreck, the artifacts recovered from the shipwreck site and maps.
Author: Dinh Chién, Nguyén,
Museum of Vietnamese History and Ca Mau Provincial Museum (2003),
Language: Vietnamese and English,
Porcelain from the Vung Tau Wreck: The Hallstrom Excavation
In the 1690s, a Chinese junk bound for Batavia and laden with ceramics for export to Europe, caught fire and foundered off Vung Tau, Vietnam. In the 1990s – and with the sanction of the Vietnamese government — a Vietnamese/Swedish team explored the wreck. A vast amount of mainly blue-and-white porcelain was found, and much of it was finally auctioned in Amsterdam, the cargo’s original destination. This illustrated expert study describes the 17th century export trade of China-Batavia-Holland and details the artefacts found. In part 2 the ship itself is presented and the methods and course of the excavation are set out. With drawings and photographs, biblography and index.
This book is divided into two sections: the art historical study of the ceramic hoard and it place in the history of European trade with Asia and China and the excavation process. It also presents data and commentary on the systematic underwater fieldwork, documentation and the raising of the cargo.
Format: Hardcover, 172 pages
Published: 2001, Singapore
ISBN: 981045208X
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