15th Century Brown Glaze wares f

15th Century Brown Glaze wares from Vietnam wreck Near Lagi in Binh Thuan Province

Very happy to come across the photo of group of brown glaze and Longquan celadon wares exhibited in an international conference in Vietnam in Jun 2019 . The early 15th cent. wreck was found in 2007 in the sea near Lagi, Binh Thuan Province. There is quite a range of brown glaze vessels: jar, jarlet, bowl, cup, ewer, kendi, lime pot, cover box and etc.

Subsequently a Vietnamese collector also shared with me a group of artefacts from the wreck.

Artefacts recovered from the Lagi wreck (Photo Credit: Thien Tong)

Mr Walter Kassela also acquired a good sampling of artefacts from the wreck and can be viewed in the following link on his website:

Binh Thuan No. 2 - Yuan Shipwreck - 2nd half 14 C | Binh Thuan No. 2 - Yuan Shipwreck - 2nd half 14 C (ceramics-and-shipwrecks-of-southeast-asia.com)

After the discovery of the wreck, large number of brown glaze cover boxes and jarlets flooded the antique market in Ho Chiminh. Majority are decorated with molded floral decoration, but there are other motifs such as dragon, deer, fish , Chinese character such as shou and etc.





Groups of 15th cent. Brown glaze vessels from the Lagi wreck

Besides brown glaze vessels, there were also Longquan celadon wares and Jingdezhen Qingbai bowls/dishes with moulded floral decoration. The Jingdezhen qingbai is clearly Yuan Shufu inspired and dated to Ming Hongwu period. Similar type were found in the Jingdezhen kiln and also the ancient Nanjing Palace established by emperor Hongwu. Hence, it provided concrete evidence of an early Ming Hongwu dating for the Lagi wreck.

Hongwu Shufu inspitred dish with moulded decoration from the Lagi wreck

Two wrecks from the sea in the east coast of West Malaysia provided further references to substantiate the early Ming dating.Some similar brown glaze jarlets and cover boxes without molded decoration were also salvaged from the Turiang wreck (+/-1380 A.D) . The Turiang wreck also carried a cargo of Longquan celadon and some Thai and Vietnamese wares.

Brown glaze jarlets with more varied forms were also salvaged from the Royal Nanhai wreck dated to around 1460 A.D.

Brown glaze jarlets salvaged from the Royal Nanhai Wreck

Such brown glaze boxes were known to have been found in Southeast Asia sites. A smaller version found at the Brunei Kota Batu Archaeological site was shared by Mr Hann Maidin, archaeologist of Brunei Museum on Facebook some time ago.

I have also seen one brown glaze cover box and various cups/jarlets that were found in Sumatra.


A brown glaze small cover box found in Sumatra, likely Jambi




Various brown glaze cups, jarlets and a lime pot found in Sumatra

Presently, kilns in Guangdong and Fujian have been commonly suggested as likely production sites . Unfortunately, there is very little from kiln archaeological surveys which could positively lay to rest the kiln attribution. In the Guangdong Shiwan museum, there is a brown glaze box with moulded Man (满）character. It was found at a site in Shiwan Xiao Wang Lou Gang (石湾小望楼岗窑址出土). Stylistically, there are some similarity of the decoration and glaze. Unfortunately the site was demolished for development. Very little information is available to enable us to get a clearer picture of the types of wares produced.

Written by: NK Koh (14 Apr 2023)