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Princessehof Museum. Two shards decorated with a duck swimming among lotus
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in a pond with the water depicted with thin parallel lines may have formed part of a
dish with an up-turned rim dating to c.1550. Several shards of Zhangzhou blue-and-
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white porcelain, all decorated with broad brushstrokes, have been excavated at Panama
La Vieja from contexts dating to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Some of them relate to finds from the San Diego (1600). A very unusual find is
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that of a few shards that formed part of the base of an ewer in the shape of a phoenix
decorated with overglaze enamels on the biscuit, now housed at the Florida Museum
of Natural History, similar to that given as part of a diplomatic gift by Ferdinand de’
Medici of Tuscany (1549–1609) to the Elector Christian I of Saxony in 1595, which
is listed in a 1505 inventory of the Dresden collection.
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In Ecuador, porcelain has been found at both religious and domestic sites.
Excavations at the Santo Domingo monastery in Quito yielded five shards of blue-
and-white porcelain probably dating to the early seventeenh century. The presence
755
of porcelain in Quito is further evidenced by the 1596 will of the Indian woman María
de Amores, already discussed in Chapter II, which lists among her belongings a large
Chinese porcelain jar. Two tiny shards of Kraak porcelain were found at an urban
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Fig. 3.3.1.2.5 Fragment of a Zhangzhou blue-
and-white dish excavated at Camana Street, domestic site in the city of Cuenca, situated in the southern highlands of Ecuador.
Lima Cuenca was formally established as a Spanish town in 1557 by order of the Viceroy
Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province of Peru, Don Juan Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza y Cabrera, 2nd Marquis of Cañete
Ming dynasty, Wanli/Tianqi reign (1573–1627)
Instituto Riva-Agüero, Mogrovejo Collection, (c.1500–1561). The porcelain would most probably have reached Cuenca through
Lima
Guayaquil, a port city founded by the Spaniards in 1538. By the late sixteenth century
Fig. 3.3.1.2.6 Shard of a Kraak plate of a plate porcelain and silks transhipped from Manila Galleons arrived at the Guayaquil market
or dish excavated at the colonial town and for sale.
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church complex Magdalena de Cao Viejo,
Chicama Valley Shards of late Ming porcelain have been found as far south as Argentina and
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province Chile. In the northeast of Argentina, a few shards of porcelain were excavated at Santa
Ming dynasty, Wanli/Chongzhen reign Fe La Vieja, occupied by the Spaniards from 1573 to 1660. These include shards
758
(1573–1644)
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, that formed part of a Kraak plate with a panelled border (Fig. 3.3.1.2.8), of another
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
with a white cavetto and a continuous naturalistic border similar to those from the San
Fig. 3.3.1.2.7 Shard of a Kraak bowl or cup Diego (1600) and Santa Margarita (1601) (Fig. 3.3.1.2.9), of at least two others with
excavated at the colonial town and church continuous borders with egrets or landscapes, and of a saucer dish with a lotus-petal
complex Magdalena de Cao Viejo,
Chicama Valley 752 Such as the intact example illustrated alongside the border outlined in blue identical to those from the Santo Alberto (1593) and Panama
shard in Ibid., p. 33, figs. 5 and 6.
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province 753 Published in Shulsky, 1998–1999, pp. 87–88, figs. 2–4. La Vieja discussed above. Other Jingdezhen blue-and-white shards formed part of
Ming dynasty, Wanli/Chongzhen reign 754 Published in Ibid., p. 89, fig. 5. For an image of the the base of bowls with sketchily painted chi-dragons similar to those recovered from
(1573–1644) ewer and other pieces of porcelain given as part
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, of this gift, see Eva Ströber, ‘Het verhaal van een the San Pedro that sank while en route to Spain in 1595 (Fig. 3.1.2.3), and of bell-
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA kreeftenkannetje’, Vormen uit vuur, 206/207, 3–4,
2009, p. 50, fig. 3. shaped cups decorated with continuous landscapes in the so-called Transitional style
755 Josef Buys, ‘La Cerámica Colonial’, paper presented
Fig. 3.3.1.2.8 Shard of a Kraak plate excavated at the Conference on Historical and Underwater similar to the examples recovered from the Wanli shipwreck (c.1625) and the Nuestra
at Santa Fe La Vieja Archaeology, Kingston, Jamaica, 1992. Mentioned Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción (1641) (Fig. 3.1.2.15), discussed earlier. Two
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province in Jamieson, 2000, p. 195.
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) 756 Lane, 2002, pp. 97–98. other shards may have formed part of a plate with the phoenix in profile design, like
Parque Arqueológico Santa Fe la Vieja 757 Jamieson, 2000, pp. 31 and 36. those excavated in Mexico City and Santa Elena discussed above. In addition, the site
758 See Chapter II, note 287. Archaeological excavations
at the site were undertaken by Agustín Zapata yielded a few shards decorated with red and green overglaze enamels showing traces
Fig. 3.3.1.2.9 Shard of a Kraak plate excavated Gollan beginning in 1949. Further information is
at Santa Fe La Vieja found in the digital catalogue Catálogo Santa of gilded decoration, which most probably formed part of a Kinrande porcelain ewer
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province Fe la Vieja (1573–1660). Bienes arqueológicos del or bottle (Fig. 3.3.1.2.10). Textual sources attest to the interest in porcelain, and also
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) Departamento de Estudios Etnográficos y Coloniales
Parque Arqueológico Santa Fe la Vieja de la Provincia de Santa Fe, Santa Fe, 2009. I am in silk as shown in Chapter II, among the residents of Santa Fe La Vieja in the early
greately indebted to Luis María Calvo, Director
Department Estudios Etnógraficos y Coloniales, years of the seventeenth century. The will of Feliciano Rodríguez taken in April 1606
Fig. 3.3.1.2.10 Shard probably of a Kinrande Santa Fe, for providing me with information and
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ewer or bottle excavated at Santa Fe La Vieja images of the shards excavated at the site. discussed earlier lists ‘a little porcelain from China’. In central Chile, a few shards of
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province 759 The original text in Spanish reads: ‘una blue-and-white porcelain were found during excavations at the Plaza (Square) Mekis
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) porcelanita de la China’. ADEEC, EC, vol. 52, of the capital city, Santiago. Although most shards are tiny making it very difficult to
Parque Arqueológico Santa Fe la Vieja fols. 116–130.
248 Trade in Chinese Porcelain 249