Page 90 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

3 The Investigation and Preliminary Analysis of Nan’ao … 57

interlocking floral designs on the outer belly and Chinese characters on the outer
bottom of the plates.
Most of the bowls are wares of Jingdezhen kiln, including blue and white
porcelain and a small amount of Wucai, mazarine blue and white glaze, typologi-
cally varying in size as large, medium and small calibers in diameter of mouth edge.
The patterns of blue and white porcelain are very exquisite and rich in content, such
as dragon, phoenix, pines and deers, recluses, playing boys, flowers and birds,
grapes, !sh and aquatic weeds, Bagua (!#, Eight Trigram), Panchi ("#, early
pattern of dragon) and so on. There are also Chinese characters or square mono-
grammed marks on the outer bottom of the bowls. Panel decoration with pond and
lotus are used in the Wucai porcelain bowls from Jingdezhen. A small quantity of
porcelain bowls from Zhangzhou kiln are also uncovered, characterizing of thick
paste. The blue and white porcelain bowls of Zhangzhou kiln are decorated with
chrysanthemum petals, flower sprays, interlocking flowers on the outer belly of the
ware. A small number of white glazed bowls from Zhangzhou kiln are also found.
A batch of exquisite powder boxes from Jingdezhen kiln are collected from the
site, mostly are blue and white porcelains, and there are also a small amount of
Wucai porcelain. The covers of the boxes are the focus of the decorative part, which
are painted with flowers and birds, flowers and plants, seawater and !shes, Bagua
(!# Eight Trigram), Chinese characters and so on. The Wucai boxes with high
quality are of panel decoration, some of which are decorated with gold tracery.
Most of the jars are from Zhangzhou kiln, including large and small ones. The
large jars, represented by the blue and white porcelain decorated with interlocking
floral design, are composited together of three parts as mouth, belly and bottom
after they were moulded respectively. The small blue and white jars are decorated
with interlocking floral pattern, flower sprays pattern, scroll grass pattern and so on.
Some of white glaze jars are undecorated, without any patterns.
Most of the cups and dishes are from Jingdezhen kiln. The themes of their
decorative patterns are almost the same as those on the bowls, including patterns of
birds and flower, high grade of!cial Figures, Kirin designs, flowers and plants, and
so on. A batch of small dishes with chrysanthemum pattern from Zhangzhou kiln
are also found.

3.2.3 Origins of the Porcelains of Nan’ao No. I Shipwreck

The blue and white porcelains collected from the shipwreck present typical char-
acteristic of early Wanli ("") period (late of 16th century) of Ming Dynasty. The
!eldwork archaeology on the kiln sites and typological comparison revealed that
these artifacts had been the products respectively of Erlong ('!) kiln in Wuzhai
(%$) village of Pinghe ("!) County, Zhangzhou city, and Guanyinge (!!")
kiln in Jingdezhen (Song 2014).
The blue and white porcelains of Zhangzhou kiln are characterized with thick
rough paste with obvious palm eye on the surface and sandy foot at the bottom,