Page 181 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

152 T.-K. Lu

• Type II plate: The rim and cavetto are decorated with large panels with
auspicious symbols separated by narrow panels with diapers and pendants
(Fig. 8.2-3). The drawing of the motifs is far more complicated than typeI. The
making skill of the type II is also !ner too. Type II plate is the most typical
Karrk porcelain in the !rst half of the seventeenth century. Similar wares could
be found in 1600, Spanish San Diego shipwreck (Desroches and Giordan 1996:
344–349) and in 1613, Witte Leeuw V.O.C. shipwreck (van der Pijl-Ketel 1982:
53–79). Besides, two cases found in dated tombs (1603 and 1621) in China also
provide some information about the supply in the domestic market.
• Type III plate: the border of the plate is surrounded by round or oval-shaped
panels with auspicious symbols. The center of the plate is star-shaped medallion.
The Type III plat only could be found at the site of fort Zeelandia in southern
Taiwan, but not in Pen-hu Archipelago, which should be the new type kraak
porcelain that Dutch exported from Taiwan after her occupation of Taiwan.
Similar wares were also found in shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613) (van der
Pijl-Ketel 1982: 88–103), and shipwreck Wanli (middle of the 1620s) in
Malaysia (Sjostrand and Syed Idrus 2007: 232–245).
• Type IV plate: It was only unearthed in the surrounding area of the fort
Zeelandia. Although the broken shards are not so big (Fig. 8.2-4), the motif of
pomegranate is still recognizable on the shards. Similar wares could be seen in
the collection of the Rijks museum, Amsterdam (Jörg et al. 1997: 60), and
Topkapi Saray museum in Turkey (Fig. 8.2-5; Krahl 1986: 803, Fig. 1606).
Type IV plat was not found in Pen-hu Archipelago and should be the new
ceramic merchandise that the Dutch ordered in Taiwan. According to the his-
torical records, it must be the “new type’” of !ne porcelains which were
imported into Taiwan after 1636.
Not many bottle shape Kraak blue and white porcelains were found in Taiwan.
The !rst one is Kendi (India Kundi or Kundika), a kind of pouring vessel without
handle (Figs. 8.2-6 and 8.2-7), Kendi Originally was a kind of religious service
ware used by Hinduism or Buddhism, and afterward was extremely popular in
Southeast Asia and Middle East. The shard of the Kendi found in Pen-hu archi-
pelago is so small, and only bobble-shape mouth is left. Similar blue and white
Kendi could be seen in the shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613) (van der Pijl-Ketel 1982:
130–131), and Hatcher shipwreck (1643) (Sheaf and Kilburn 1988:48). The other
kind of Kraak porcelain vessel is bottle with long neck, and only some shards of
neck and belly were found (Fig. 8.2-8).
Another group of Kraak porcelains found in Taiwan belongs to Swatow wares,
which were made by Zhang-zhou Kiln, south of Fujian province. Usually, the
quality of the Zhang-zhou wares was not so good, the base is stained with sand, and
the cobalt and glaze are grayish or dark. It should be the “coarse porcelain” which
was mentioned by the Dutch in historical records. The most typical kraak style
Zhang-zhou blue and white plates, 36–38 cm in dimension, imitating the kraak
style of Chin-te-chen porcelains, were decorated with the motifs of flowers and
birds or landscapes (Fig. 8.2-9). Similar works could be seen in the shipwreck Witte