Ca Mau Tea Research

Bowl
Porcelain tea bowl with cobalt blue underglaze decoration of three figures and a pavilion, probably made in Jingdezhen, China, during the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) and recovered from the Ca Mau Wreck in 1998.
Blue and white porcelain tea bowl, wheel thrown and painted in underglaze cobalt blue. It is decorated with a scene in a garden setting depicting the corner of a pavilion and three figures, with the rails of a fence or bridge. The decoration shows a man dressed in military attire walking with a woman, and a man wearing scholarly official robes emerging from behind the pavilion. The decorative band around the inside rim consists of a diaper pattern interspersed with single flowers, and inside the tea bowl is a line, around a central painted mark consisting of three circles or characters. The original shiny, glassy finish of the porcelain has been altered by the cleaning process after the porcelain was recovered from the shipwreck, so the porcelain has a smooth, matt appearance. The saucer is marked 'cmI.17480', and the underside of the tea bowl was physically marked with its object number on 10/05/2010.

Materials & technique: History:

thrown porcelain, hand painted and glazed

This saucer was one of thousands of pieces of Chinese porcelain, which were part of the cargo of a Chinese junk, and eventually destined for the European market. The junk was probably heading from Canton (Guangzhou) to the Dutch trading port of Batavia (now Jakarta), when it sank in around 1725. From Jakarta the cargo would have been brought to Europe to sell at ports such as London or Amsterdam. There were several hundred identical cups and saucers with this design found in the shipwreck. The date 1725 corresponds to the reign of the Yongzheng emperor (1723-1735) of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). This date has been established through inscriptions on some porcelain pieces which read 'Made in Yongzheng Great Qing', as well as two coins which were 'Kangxi issued' indicating that they had been produced in the reign of the Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). See Nguyn Dinh Chin, Tu C C Mau: The Ca Mau Shipwreck (Hanoi: Museum of Vietnamese History and Ca Mau Provincial Museum, 2003). The wreck of the junk had been left virtually undisturbed for over 250 years with much of its cargo still intact. It was discovered by fisherman off the Ca Mau peninsular, Vietnam, in 1998 and the cargo was salvaged. A large number of objects from the cargo were sold in 2007 at Sothebys Amsterdam (sale AM0967 'Made in Imperial China: 76,000 pieces of export porcelain from the Ca Mau shipwreck, Circa 1725'. This piece was purchased from R & G McPherson Antiques. The V&A has a number of similar pieces with the same design and has identified them as being made in the city of Jingdezhen, which was famous for its porcelain production. The cargo contained a number of objects that were clearly destined for the European market such as blue and white wares decorated with the 'Scheveningen' landscape design, which contains the elements typical of Dutch fishing villages, but executed in the Chinese style, as well as objects with European forms such as beer mugs.

The Yongzheng Emperor was the first true art-lover among the Manchu rulers. Unlike the more practically minded Kangxi Emperor, who believed himself duty-bound to look after items inherited from the past and to uphold standards of craftsmanship, the Yongzheng Emperor passionately cared for and lived with works of art. He commissioned items from the Palace Workshops, whose output changed in nature as a result. The Emperor knew his artisans by name, personally commented on their work and specially rewarded creations that he considered outstanding.

Saucer
Porcelain saucer with cobalt blue underglaze decoration of three figures and a pavilion, probably made in Jingdezhen, China, during the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) and recovered from the Ca Mau Wreck in 1998.
Physical Description: Blue and white porcelain saucer, wheel thrown and painted in underglaze cobalt blue. It is decorated with a scene in a garden setting depicting the corner of a pavilion and three figures, with the rails of a fence or bridge in the foreground. In the centre of the composition is a man dressed in military attire walking with a woman, and a man wearing scholarly official robes emerging from behind the pavilion. The decorative band around the rim consists of a diaper pattern interspersed with single flowers. There is no decoration on the reverse. The original shiny, glassy finish of the porcelain has been altered by the cleaning process after the porcelain was recovered from the shipwreck, so the porcelain has a smooth, matt appearance. The saucer is marked 'cm4:16.124', and the underside of the saucer was physically marked with its object number on 14/05/2010. Comments: Stacey Pierson, Lecturer in Chinese Ceramics at SOAS, University of London, examined this object on 29 September 2010 as part of the Stories of the World project. She noted that the story depicted on the Ca Mau set is an everyday version of a more high-level design. Designs on Chinese ceramics often make visual references to genres of Chinese painting, showing famous stories and designs from the past. It is possible accurately to identify stories from more expensive Chinese wares, and see how designs and motifs filtered down to more everyday items. Traditionally, the backdrop for the stories depicted on Chinese porcelain is a garden landscape with a pavilion, with a scene from a Chinese drama in the foreground. The appearance of the fly-whisk was also traditional, and was inserted into designs as a visual accessory. All the objects from the Ca Mau wreck with the same design were probably roughly in the same batch but may not have been fired together. All of the Ca Mau wares have a design which is a variation on the same theme, although one group has European designs too. They are most likely Jingdezhen porcelain, and originally (before cleaning) would have had a colourless glaze, which would be glassy and hard. It is interesting to note, however, that porcelain during the 18th century was never talked of as being translucent, and usually described as hard and glassy instead. They would have been mass-produced, and the wares have the weight and thinness of eighteenth-century objects. On the saucers, the design is in what is referred to as a garden setting. The man on the right wears scholarly official robes, while the one on the right is in military attire. The minor band around the rim is a diaper pattern interspersed with single flowers. There is nothing on the reverse, as would be expected. The cups have the same diaper border pattern and horizontal layout as the saucers. Due to the cleaning process after the shipwreck, when the porcelain was soaked in cleaning solution, there has been a change to the surface; it is no longer glossy or shiny. The change clearly results from this cleaning process, rather than corrosion from sea salt, which would have a different effect. The wares have been cleaned well and sensitively, especially considering the condition they would have been in after being discovered in the shipwreck. An example of a story which can be traced through different wares is the Three Kingdoms story, which features a horse. See the group of four dishes in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (object number c.1196-1910) with 'famille verte' decoration. The dishes show the heroes from the novel Shuihu Zhuan (Water Margin). Other examples include the presence

of a military officer and a vulnerable female, which usually indicates the Journey to the West or West Chamber story, and Xi Xiang Ji, which started appearing on porcelain around the mid-14th century. This story was particularly popular in the Ming period (1368-1644). The story is illustrated on a vase from c.1700 in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number C.859-1910). Many designs on porcelain originally appeared in manuscripts as horizontally-oriented plates in woodblock-printed books. See Craig Clunas, Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China (London: Reaktion Books, 1997). This horizontal orientation is clear when designs are used as decoration on porcelain; the framing of the scenes make sense in this context. Porcelain in the 18th century is generally lighter than in previous centuries due to an increase in mass production skills, and the cheapness of production. Usually various people would paint particular parts of the design, according to their specialism, for example, there would be someone responsible for borders, another person for architecture, and so on. A single floral motif, even if it covered an entire object, would be painted by the same person. The colour variation depends on how much pigment painters used, how wet the brush was, and in part, the firing conditions.

UCL Around the English Home fact -The Italian Maiolica plate (1575-1625) The term was originally for ceramics from Spain, which were influenced by North African, Egyptian and Syrian ceramic styles and traditions

5 things in my home from other countries Papyrus piece with Arabic writing (Egypt) Glazed Earthenware Bowl (Japan) Carved wooden box (India) Glass perfume ornate bottles (Egypt) Embroidered Prayer Mats (Saudi Arabia)

At home with the world Exhibition The 2012 at home with the world Exhibition is for me the exploration of different cultures, and the meeting of these cultures in relation to our lifestyle through objects and aspects of our homes throughout history. The exhibition will look at how these cultures have influenced our way of life, and how they have contributed to objects we would find in the typical English living room. Young people have been instrumental in putting together projects and activities to reflect the exploration of our heritage through foreign (influenced) objects in new and innovative ways, through art, film, speech etc. I myself have been involved in making more people aware of the exhibition, young people in particular in order to get more involved in the project and ensure we have a wide range of people and opinion contributing to our upcoming exhibition.