Southeast Asia, Thailand, Sawankhalok (also Sawankalok), ca. 14th to 15th century CE. A wonderful selection of 5 hand-built and glazed pottery jars and jarlets with planar bases and thick rims. The 2 petite vessels as well as the largest vessel are of Thai Sawankhalok origin - the 2 jarlets with apple-shaped bodies, and the largest jar with a spherical body adorned with soft linear motifs on the shoulder. The 2 remaining vessels are from Ming Dynasty China - 1 with a trio of handles above the inverted piriform body, and the larger with a pair of loop handles above a textured upper body. All but the largest vessel exhibit marine encrustations consistent with being submerged in a shipwreck. Size of largest: 6" Diameter x 5.7" H (15.2 cm x 14.5 cm)

During this time period, China was the great naval power of the East, with technology that surpassed anything that Europe had yet developed; this was the time of Zheng He and China's role as an international trader from the Mediterranean to the south Pacific. As the Ming period progressed, and the political conditions that had held the overland Silk Route together deteriorated, a Maritime Silk Road became more important to Chinese trade. These cups were likely from South China near Fujian and were headed to Malaysia to trade with the Dutch East India Company, when the ship sank off the coast of Binh Thuan Thailand in 1608 CE.

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, acquired before 2010

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#170305

Each piece has minor abrasions, fading to glaze pigment, nicks, and encrustations, with marine deposits on all but the largest vessel, otherwise intact and very good. Nice preservation to overall forms. Largest vessel has old inventory label on one side of shoulder.