Shipwreck Ceramics

Sunken treasure evokes images of gold bars or silver coins strewn over the ocean floor or chests of jewels and gems from pirates plunder but, over the last few decades the words have come also come to represent something else altogether - ceramics. At one time ceramics, mainly from China, were carried in large quantities around the islands of S.E. Asia and also on to Europe and Africa, and inevitably many of these cargoes never reached their destination. Whenever a ship goes down, much of the cargo that goes down with it will very quickly be destroyed.

 

  

However, ceramics, protected by high-fired glazes, can remain underwater virtually unaffected for many centuries. The locations of some of these wrecks have been known by local fishermen for years, but, recently large cargoes of these ceramics have been brought to auction and have been sold for many millions of pounds; thus establishing their true value as sunken treasure. Their value however is not only measured in monetary terms, as each wreck is a time capsule, and the knowledge gained from examining these cargoes has been priceless in advancing our understanding of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramics.

These ships did not carry cargoes of fabulous individual pieces fetching many thousands of pounds each, although examples of these do exist, but rather they were the everyday plates, bowls and vases destined for middleclass markets around the world. As such, although these pieces are individually crafted and painted, and truly representative of the style and the era in which they were created, they are now available at a price so many more of us can afford.   

Welcome to the world of Shipwreck Ceramics   




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