Page 79 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

Ceramics from the Musi River

of Trowulan, in East Java (Guy 1997:58). Sixty five such
tiles can be seen today embedded in the walls of the Great
Mosque in Demak, Central Java. Interestingly no such tiles
were seen in the Musi, perhaps because Sriwijaya is known
to have limited development of significant architectural
monuments.
A number of other monochrome glazed bowls from
the Musi, post the Tran Dynasty, included those that
were straw coloured (K790), apple green (K1330) and
white (K1344).
Vietnamese export ware also employed red, green
and yellow over-glaze enamels, either alone or with cobalt
blue under-glaze. Only one jar with degraded enamel was
collected from the Musi (K841).
Late-Vietnam wares exported during the transition Figure 87. Bowl, diameter 19.7, Central Vietnam (Cham), Binh
Dinh Province, Go Sanh or Go Hoi kilns, C14–C15,
from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty varied between from the Musi River, Sungai Guci site. Catalogue
porcellaneous stoneware and rather fine porcelain with No. K2060.
under-glaze blue decoration fit for daily use. Their glaze
was thicker, heavily crackled and tinted an ivory white with
the blue sometimes an in-glaze blue. The bases can be flat
but mostly had a thick rounded foot ring with recessed
and carefully glazed base. Wares included among others
‘Tonkinese’ cups, jarlets, bowls for tea ceremonies and
medium sized ‘chicken foot dragon’ jars (Brown 1989).
Such late-North Vietnamese wares found in the Musi River
may include the following jarlets K735, K1052. The most
modern Vietnamese ware from the Musi was probably a
water pourer (K2253) dated from the 19th or 20th century.
North Vietnamese ware from the Musi was
predominately found at the Pusri site. A total of 71 per
cent of the 78 items with recorded site information were
from Pusri. And this was over a long period. For example, Figure 88. Bowl, four small round spur marks in well, rim
unglazed, diameter 17 cm, probably Central Vietnam
all but one of the Tran Dynasty (C13–C14) bowls came (Cham), C14–C15, from the Musi River, Lawang Kidul
from Pusri (5) and one from Boom Baru (two others were site. Catalogue No. K1949.
from the general are of Pusri/Boom Baru). Under-glaze
iron decorated ware (C14–C15) was also predominantly were generally made from coarse fabric and were poorly
found at Pusri (8) then Boom Baru (3), Sungai Rebo (1) finished. They were glazed mainly with brown, light
and Sungai Guci (1). Under-glaze cobalt blue ware (C15– green or white glaze. Most bowls, plates and saucers had
C17) continued this trend with Pusri (15), Boom Baru an unglazed ring around the inner well. The wares were
(5), and Batu Ampar (4). The monochromes (C14–C16) somewhat restricted in variety and comprised celadon
again were similar with Pusri (25), Boom Baru (6), Batu bowls, dishes and basins, iron-glazed jars and pear-shaped
Ampar (1) and Sungai Guci (1). bottles, roof tiles and architectural ornaments. Some of
the bowls and dishes had under-glaze iron decoration;
CHAM most distinctive were brown-glazed cups and round-sided
The Cham, which occupied what is now Central Vietnam, deep basins. Examples of most of these can be found in
was a wealthy nation with a vast trade network (Bray 2014). the Hauge Collection (Smithsonian Institute 2009).
Cham ceramics have been identified at sites as far afield as Cham ceramics were easily distinguished from those
Indonesia, the Sinai Peninsula, Philippines and Japan, as of the North Vietnamese because they were made from
well as in shipwrecks off the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia, reddish Central Vietnam clays, and not the fine smooth
and Vietnam (Aoyagi and Hasebe 2002). The Pandanan grey-white clays of the Red River delta. No under-glaze
ship, wrecked off the coast of Palawan sometime between decorated ware appeared to have been produced by
1450 and 1470, included in its cargo several hundred the Cham as all shards reported from Binh Dinh were
Cham celadon porcelain and stoneware saucers or dishes monochromes and decoration was rare, except on the
produced at the Go Sanh kilns in Binh Dinh Province larger storage jars which sometimes had incised or
(Tanaka and Dizon 2017). moulded and applied motifs (Brown 1989).
These international contacts and relationships allowed The earliest Go Sanh celadon bowls, as well as surface
the Cham to develop a sophisticated ceramic industry finds from other kilns in the Binh Dinh Province, had
during the Vijaya Kingdom, centred at the locations of entirely glazed interiors. Later ones have unglazed rings in
the Go Sanh and Go Hoi kilns in Binh Dinh. These wares the well to facilitate their stacking for firing. The pottery

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