Antique Celadon ware and other ming pottery from the
Nanyang (+/- 1380) shipwreck
Nanyang, a 14th century shipwreck was located in Malaysian Territorial water 11 miles from nearest island. She was loaded with now antique celadon wares from the famous Sisatchanalai kilns. The ship was found ten miles from Tioman island, a popular tourist spot and a popular stopover for seafarers since the 9th century.
The construction details noted thus far, which includes transversal bulkheads, joined with wooden dowels, fits a South China Sea type ship. The site has been surveyed but not yet excavated as much of the ships feature and the ceramics onboard are similar to that of the Royal Nanhai. The length of the vessel appear to be 18 meters and the beam 5 meters and it may have carried as much as 10.000 pieces of pottery, primarily celadon from the Sisatchanalai kilns, many of them showing scars from the use of spur discs.
Celadons dishes with spur marks have hardly ever been documented and seem to indicate an early production technique. Because the same type of dish, when found onboard the Royal Nanhai, does not have these spur marks, it is believed that the Nanyang is an earlier shipwreck perhaps dating to the later part of the 14th century. All evidence from the kiln site suggests that celadon dishes with spur marks are earlier than similar dishes without them. The larger storage jars on the Nanyang also suggest an earlier date. The tentative date for the loss of the Nanyang is therefore set to the period 1372-1390.
Four hundred and two pieces recovered from the wreck, for comparison purposes, were deposited in the collection of the Malacca Museum Corporation, State of Malacca. Malaysia. Without the promised conservation and registration, the artefacts were later returned to the company for proper treatment.
Early celadon cups from the Sisatchanalai kilns
Celadon jarlets and water dropper from Sisatchanalai
Incised decortaions in the early days at the Sisatchanali kilns was simple but elegant
Large tubular support scar, from stacking the ware in the kiln, confirms the early date
Some of the incised decorations on the Nanyang celadon plates resembles that of the later Royal Nanhai celadon wares
Pottery from the Nanyang shipwreck are now
for sale. Please go to: Artifacts for Sale
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This one surprised all of us!
September 30th 2002.
On the way back from the Desaru shipwreck, we stopped at the Nanyang site with the intent of collecting wood sample for analysis. While digging for wood, we found SUKHOTHAI underglaze plates of a type we never seen before. As if this wasen't enough, we also found Sisatchanalai celadons with fish motif on the cavetto! Very rare pieces indeed! Our surface investigation (50 dives) did not indicate any underglaze or fish decorations on celadons. These pieces too will be added to the National Museum exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.
The excavators of the Thai kiln sites
reported that they have seen incised
fish on Sisatchanalai celadons, in the
centre medallion, but NEVER on the
cavetto.
Sukhothai
fish and flower
plate from the
Nanyang shipwreck
Latest News:
Incised fish motif on the cavetto have never been reported from Kiln excavations, shipwrecks or in the literature
Click on above images to view antique shipwreck ceramics for sale
Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC. Delaware. USA
THE ONLY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE SURE TO BUY GENUINE ANTIQUES
Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd. was incorporated on the recommendation of the Malaysian authorities. This was done in order to formalize and to expand on the company’s researcher’s extensive knowledge of Asia’s ceramic developments and maritime trade.
The company’s researchers have been engaged in the search for historical shipwrecks for more than two decades and another decade researching maritime trade. Most of this work is concentrated to the South China Sea, a virtual highway for ancient shipping linking China to India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia in an extensive maritime trade system. This ancient trade started sometime around the 4th century and lasted well into the 19th century.
Following a successful shipwreck discovery, the company obtain a government permit to excavate the wreckage, and then carry out detailed marine archaeological procedures in recovering the artifacts, mapping the ship's remains and securing other data for future research. After each concluded project and following conservation of recovered artifacts, we search for and pinpoint ruined kiln sites and compare its wasters with the recovered ceramics until we are satisfied we located the place in which the shipwreck pottery was made centuries earlier.
As such we have precisely located a kiln sites in Sisatchanalai, northern Thailand in which our Royal Nanhai and the Nanyang shipwreck celadon ware was made around AD. 1380-1460. (See videos on: http://www.ming-wrecks.com/photopage.html ) Other kilns was located in Sukhothai where production wasters matched the fish and flower plates found on the Turiang and the Longquan shipwreck. These unique underglaze decorated wares was made at those exact kilns 600 years earlier! Our latest shipwreck cargo; The Wanli Shipwreck, of Chinese blue and white porcelain, was likewise pinpointed to the Guangyinge kiln site in Jingdezhen, China. (See video on: http://www.ming-wrecks.com/photopage.html )
Our arrangement with the Malaysian authorities is such that we finance all operations and train young Malaysian nationals (on our initiative) in maritime archaeology and related research. After giving all unique and single artifacts and thirty percent of all recovered items to the National Museum (and assisting with exhibitions of artifacts from each project) we are allowed to sell our portion of the recovery to finance future projects. The findings from ongoing research and the compilation of reports, books and catalogues are available on these pages as well as on a separate Internet site: http://www.maritimeasia.ws
Due to the unquestionable authenticity and precisely dated shipwreck pottery, many International Museums now display our shipwreck pieces as reference material.
The artifacts sold on this website are therefore legally and properly excavated and can be supplied with an export permit from the Department of Museum in Malaysia should this be required. This unique working arrangement makes us one of the few Internet sellers that sell from own excavation and issues a meaningful Certificate of Authenticity for every (numbered) piece sold.
So, if you are interested to purchase some of our Antique porcelain, old time pottery or other shipwreck artifacts from the Song dynasty, Ming porcelain or Chinese blue and white porcelain or the famous Yixing teapots, you can rest assured that every piece is excavated through proper archaeology by our own staff. We do not sell anything that is not excavated by ourselves or properly recorded and researched before offered for sale so every piece comes with the “Best possible provenance”
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO EMAIL OUR PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER; Sten Sjostrand SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR POSSIBLE PURCHASE
A site loaded with information about ancient shipwreck ceramics including; antique porcelain, old time pottery & Chinese porcelain.
Affordable antique porcelain and pottery. These are the cheapest available on the net.
Early Chinese porcelain and pottery from the South China Sea shipwrecks
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Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC Delaware, USA
as agents for Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd.
25 Jalan Wawasan Jaya. 26 820 Kuala Rompin. Malaysia
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