SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

A 13th century shipwreck laden with Song Dynasty porcelain was recovered from the depths of the South China Sea last week - ships like these were common in the international trade that plied the maritime silk route between China and West Asia, and they all moved through Southeast Asia.

Sunken Merchant Boat Raised from the Sea
Xinhua, 22 Dec 2007

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24 September 2007 (VietNam Net Bridge) - Finds from a 19th century shipwreck were recovered off the coast of Ha Tinh province. The finds were mainly Chinese ceramics and were donated to the provincial museum. The story doesn’t say much else.

Sunk ship with antiques discovered in Ha Tinh

Ha Tinh Province Museum has recently received 300 ancient objects including numerous ceramic works discovered by fishermen in Cam Xuyen district in a sunken wooden ship.

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The International Herald Tribune ran a commentary last week about the issues surrounding the ownership of deep-sea treasure (Cultural heritage: Whose deep sea treasure is it really? and I’ve appended the text at the end of the post.) The issue revolves around the salvage of the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora, sunk of the coast of Portugal. It was salvaged by an American company, but Spain is also contesting ownership of the galleon (incidentally holding a load of gold and silver). The article moots Peru as another possible claimant to the treasure: after all, “The Inca didn’t freely give gold and silver to the Spanish invaders. Spain took it by force”.

Transpose this situation to the Southeast Asian context: could Portugal lay claim to the, say, Flor del Mar, a 16th-century ship which sunk off the coast of Sumatra? Indonesia has de facto claim to the wreck because it lies in its waters, and the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage would rule that Indonesia has “exclusive right to regulate and authorize activities directed at underwater cultural heritage in their internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea”. Incidentally, Indonesia is not signatory to the convention.

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30 July 2007 (New Straits Times) - It looks like it’s another artifact sale in Malaysia, from remnants of shipwrecks in Malaysian waters. These artefacts are left over from archaeological salvage and come from a variety of shipwrecks. I’ll be headed up to KL this weekend, and so I hope to write about the sale there.

Klang Valley Streets: Treasures from the deep

TREASURES from the deep go on display and sale in Kuala Lumpur this week at an art fair that showcases an array of Asia’s treasures from the 11th to 19th centuries.

And the man who spent 17 years plumbing the depths of Southeast Asian waters, discovering 10 major shipwrecks, is marine archaeologist Sten Sjostrand.

Sjostrand is proud of his underwater feats and retrieval of precious artifacts: he will have these remarkable pieces showcased at the Asia Art Fair 2007, also an exhibition comprising Asian collectibles and treasures, which opens at the Bangsar Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur, tomorrow.

The pieces retrieved from the shipwrecks may not be the most aesthetically pleasing in a conventional way or most colourful, but they are definitely timeless treasures that are intriguing and mysterious. Historical artwork has been carved and fired on to these items ranging from ceramics, pottery, ornaments, accoutrements to utensils.
They were found on the shipwrecks from the Tanjung Simpang (the years of 960-1127), Turiang (1370), Nanyang (1380), Longquan (1400), Royal Nanhai (1460), Xuande (1540), Singtai (1550), Wanli (1625), Anantes (1795)and Desaru (1830).

Most of these pieces were the objects of trade between China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. However, it’s the Wanli shipwreck that will be the main feature because of the familiar designs of 17th century Chinese porcelain artwork. It signified the time when European merchants were involved with Asia’s maritime trade and were supplying their domestic markets with Asian products.

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Read more about the Malaysian shipwrecks artefact sale.

For books relating to Southeast Asian Shipwrecks and trade ceramics, look up:
- Shipwrecks and Sunken Treasure in Southeast Asia by T. Wells
- The Ceramics of Southeast Asia : Their Dating and Identification by R. M. Brown

14 July 2007 (The Star) - Noted ceramics expert Dr. Roxanna Brown from the South-East Asian Ceramics Museum in Bangkok will give a lecture about Shipwreck Ceramics and the Fall of Malacca on Saturday’s meeting if the West Malaysian chapter of the South-East Asian Ceramics Society. The article also outlines how ceramic finds from shipwrecks have helped us understand key points in ancient Southeast Asia’s history.

Reading shipwreck ceramics

Ancient shipwrecks with Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramics are important in that they can tell us how maritime trade in South-East Asia had an impact on kingdoms like Sirivijaya, Angkor, Ayutthaya and Malacca.

According to Bangkok-based South-East Asian Ceramics Museums director, Dr Roxanna Brown, the ceramics offer an insight into how the maritime trade enriched these centres of development.

Based on the types of ceramics found, as well as excavation sites, a chronological order of trading activities, empire development, and even the building of temples like Angkor and Borobudur can be verified, said Dr Brown who will be delivering a lecture on Shipwreck Ceramics and the Fall of Malacca at the 31st annual general meeting of the South-East Asian Ceramics Society, West Malaysia Chapter on July 21 at Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

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Dr Roxanna Brown’s lecture will be held from 2pm-6pm at Galeri 2, Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Registration: 1.30pm. The lecture is open to the public with a donation of RM30 to the society. Participants are allowed to bring a relevant antique ceramic each for identification. For details, e-mail: seacsmal@yahoo.com

Read more about Dr Roxanna Brown.

Books about Southeast Asian ceramics and shipwrecks:
- Thai Ceramic Art by J. D. van Oenen and N. Guerin
- Shipwrecks and Sunken Treasure in Southeast Asia by T. Wells
- The Ceramics of Southeast Asia : Their Dating and Identification by R. M. Brown
- Oriental trade ceramics in Southeast Asia, 10th to 16th century: Selected from Australian collections, including the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Bodor Collection by J. Guy
- Southeast Asian Ceramics: Ninth through Seventeenth Centuries by D. F. Frasche