Bihn Thuan Shipwreck pheonix dish, Ming Dynasty, circa 1608

Sold

Chinese porcelain ‘Bihn Thuan Wreck’ dish, painted in underglaze blue with two confronting standing phoenix, flanked by leafy trees and below a large chrysanthemum, surrounded in a border of fishscale decoration and five oval cartouches, each with two sprays of flowers and blossom, the reverse with scattered leaves.

Ming Dynasty,
Wanli reign,
circa 1608

recovered from a wreck off Bin Thuan, Vietnam, 2002.

26cm
Condition: rim ripples & flaws from time of manufacture, some very minor scratching, in very good condition. The back bears a large amount of the granitic sand used to fire the piece on in the kiln.

Around 1608, this ill-fated vessel with its valuable cargo of mostly blue and white Swatow ware from Zhangzhou was probably headed for markets in Malaysia or Indonesia, which were well-established consumers of Chinese ceramics.
Archaeological examination concludes that the ship most likely struck the coral topped Holland Bank and drifted on for nine miles before sinking beneath the waves, not to be seen until almost 400 years later when fishermen’s trawl nets became entangled in some of the Binh Thuan’s wreckage. An Archaeological examination and commercial recovery in 2002 brought the pieces to the surface. The pieces that were released by the government were sold at Christies Melbourne in 2004.

Sold - let us find you another