East Asia, China, late Ming Dynasty, ca. 17th century CE. This is a fabulous group of four petite Swatow porcelain cups all from a shipwreck near the Binh Thuan province off the southern coast of Vietnam. The cups are each ivory white with cobalt blue patterns, 3 with stylized floral and linear motifs on the inner rim and a flower shape on the center basin, and one with a landscape depicting a seated man. The name "Swatow" or Zhangzhou most probably derives from Shantou in China, an old junk port along the southeastern coast of Guangdong near Fujian, and these ceramics were often destined for export. Size (largest): 2.75" Diameter x 1.5" H (7 cm x 3.8 cm); (smallest): 2.5" Diameter x 1.45" H (6.4 cm x 3.7 cm)

During this time period, China's was the great naval power of the East, with technology that surpassed anything that Europe had yet developed; this was the time of Zheng He and China's role as an international trader from the Mediterranean to the south Pacific. As the Ming period progressed, and the political conditions that had held the overland Silk Route together deteriorated, a Maritime Silk Road became more important to Chinese trade. These cups were likely from South China near Fujian and were headed to Malaysia to trade with the Dutch East India Company, when the ship sank off the coast of Binh Thuan Thailand in 1608 CE.

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, acquired before 2010

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#169336

Minor chips to the rims of all cups. Stable hairline fissures radiating from rim to base on the cup with landscape, otherwise all are intact and very good. White marine encrustations on the largest bowl.