Page 230 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

202 E. Von der Porten

12.5 China and Overseas Chinese

Chinese porcelains form the greatest part of our collection, numbering 1862 out of
2666 artifacts. There are 123 distinct types. These have been reported on in several
conferences and publications 13 and are dealt with in detail in the forthcoming book,
The Ming Porcelains from the Manila Galleon Wreck found in Baja California. 14
Some of them illustrate well-de!ned trade patterns in the late sixteenth century.
The Baja California galleon cargo includes early Zhangzhou wares, which often
were traded to Southeast Asia (Fig. 12.18). All the !nds are of the loosely-painted
style, so that style can be clearly dated to the 1570s. An unusual example of
crossing scholarly boundaries is a spoonbill painted on a large Zhangzhou ware
dish (Fig. 12.19). An expert in Oriental birds identi!ed it and noted that it is extinct
in Mainland China now but still exists in Taiwan. Clearly, it was seen on the
mainland in the sixteenth century: a revelation to the bird scholar.
Many of the porcelains from Jindezhen were suitable for many of the Southeast
Asian trades, so they do not tell us much about their usual destinations. Some are of
remarkably poor quality, notably the large number of phoenix plates (Fig. 12.20).

Fig. 12.18 Zhangzhou
ceramic ware

13
The most comprehensive earlier publications are the author’s monographs on the porcelains
from the site (Von der Porten 2011, 2012). The ship was identi!ed as the San Felipe until new
documentary evidence led to her identi!cation as the San Juanillo of 1578.
14
Book by Edward Von der Porten. All the porcelains described below are published in this book.