Abstract
After the Wanli shipwreck was discovered 60 miles off the east coast of Tan jong Jara in Malaysia, numerous marvelous ceramic shards have been salvaged from the seabed. Remarkable pieces of Jingdezhen blue- and-white porcelain recovered from the site represent the essential part of the fascinating research.
The porcelain cargo of Wanli shipwreck is significant to the studies on exported porcelains and Jingdezhen porcelain manufacture industry of Late-Ming dynasty. Using the ceramic shards categorization and the study of the Chinese and Western historical documents as a research strategy, the paper wants to shed a new light on the Wanli shipwreck wares classification with Jingdezhen kiln ceramic as its main focus. The article is also discussing Jingdezhen blue-and- white porcelains from the perspective of domestic versus export markets and futher proceeding to the systematization and analyses of Wanli shipwreck porcelain which bear witness to the forms, styles and types of decoration that were being traded in this period.
The porcelain data from two other shipwrecked projects - White leeuw and Hatcher- were chosen as comparative case studies and Wanli shipwreck Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain is being reinterpreted in the context of art history and archeology of the region. The marine archaeologist Sten Sjostrand named the ship "Wanli shipwreck" because its porcelain cargo are typical of those made during the reign of Emperor Wanli of Ming dynasty.
Though some scholars question the appropriateness of the name, the final verdict of the history is still to be made.Based on previous historical argumentation, the article uses a comparative approach to review the Wanli shipwreck blue-and- white porcelains on the grounds of the porcelains unearthed from the tomb or abandoned in the towns and carrying the time-specific reign mark. All these materials provide a very strong evidence which suggests that the porcelain recovered from Wanli ship can be be dated to as early as the second year of Tianqi era (1622) and early Chongzhen reign. Lastly, some blue-and-white porcelain intented for domestic market and some bowls of blue-and-white porcelain from Jingdezhen kilns recovered from the Wanli shipwreck all carry at the bottom the specific residue from the firing process.
The author makes the corresponding analysis for these two interesting phenomena.