16th cent. Ming blue and white from the Spanish
Galleon San Juanillo
A group of American beachcombers found porcelain fragments on a beach at
Enzenada, Baja California in Mexico in th 90s. In collaboration with the
National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH), Edward Von
der Porten and his colleagues undertook the first of many archaeological
expeditions to investigate the site in 1999. Over twenty years, a team of
American and Mexican archaeologists recovered thousands of artifacts and
concluded that they had located the remains of the cargo from a Spanish
galleon—most likely the San Juanillo of 1578. It was lost without trace in
1578 after leaving Manila for Acapulco in Mexico.
The term Manila galleon can also refer to the trade route itself between
Acapulco and Manila, which lasted from 1565 to 1815.
Through the assistance of Edward Von der Porten, Weng Yanjun a researcher
from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Archaeological Research Bureau (
翁彦俊，景德镇市陶瓷考古研究所) was able to study the artefacts kept in Museo Historico
Regional de Ensenada. Although he did not ruled out the likelihood of the
artefacts being from San Juanillo, he felt that other possibilities should
be explored and considered. For example, he highlighted the close
similarities between the artefacts with those from the Nanao 1 wreck.
It is also interesting to note that some bowls carried apocryphal Xuande and
Zhengde mark. There were also quite a few with Jiajing mark. Is it mark and
period? There were no pieces with the ensuing Longqing or Wanli mark
recovered. Those folk kiln blue and white with Longqing and wanli mark were
found in significant in China. In fact, many were found in graves in
Northern Vietnam. From my travels, I have noticed that Vietnam have
comparatively many good late Ming blue and white wares, many dating to late
Jiajing to early Wanli phase.
In 2019 when I was in Vietnam, I saw quite a number of blue and white bowls
in the antique shops in Ho Chiminh. The dealers said they were from an
unknown wreck near Central Vietnam Quang Ngai. They are similar to those
from the Baja California and Nanao 1 wreck.
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| Examples from the
central Vietnam Quang Ngai |
In 2010, a wreck which carried similar cargo to that of
Nanao 1
wreck was discovered near Belanankan in Java.
In the Chinese academic circle, the dating of Nanao 1 wreck is rather
divisive with dating ranging from late Jiajing, Longqing, early Wanli to as
late as late Wanli.
In 2019 Shanghai Museum did TL testings on two of the Jingdezhen samples
from the Nanao 1 wreck. The results showed a dating range of 490±40 and
498±50 respectively. Hence the terminus ante quem date range is 1569 - 1571
A.D equivalent to 3rd to 5th year of Longqing reign (1567 - 1572 A.D).
One of the best article which discussed the dating of Nanao 1 wreck was
written by Guo Xuelei from Shenzhen Museum. He made many comparisons of the
Nanao artifacts with those from other shipwrecks and marked pieces found in
China. His conclusion of the wreck being from the transitional phase to
Longqing period is close to the Shanghai TL test results.
Accurate dating of Jingdezhen blue and white from late Jiajing to early
Wanli period is difficult as they share many similar features. This is
hardly surprising as we are talking about a tight time span of around 20
years.
It was in 1567 A.D during the first year of Longqing reign (1567 - 1573 A D)
that China formally lifted its foreign trade ban and opened up Yuegang port
in Zhangzhou as the point of exit for trade. During the 7 years of Longqing
reign, the volume of trade porcelains increased markedly. It was also during
this period that Zhangzhou kilns which benefitted from its proximity to
Yuegang, seized the opportunity to increase porcelain production and emerged
as a serious competitor of Jingdezhen for the lower end consumer markets.
Those from San Isidro near Philippines, Baja California, Java Belanankan and
Nanao 1 wrecks represented some of the earliest Zhangzhou wares.
My articles related to Zhangzhou ware:
