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Ming Dynasty Ceramics from a Chinese Shipwreck
DENVER - Sometime in the early 1500s, a Chinese ship, later to be known as the San Isidro, sank off the western Philippines loaded with ceramics made in South China, probably in Fujian province. Most of the ceramics were simple utilitarian wares on their way from China to the Philippines as part of a robust commercial trade that flourished in the sixteenth century. Four centuries later, in 1995, the ship was discovered under a twenty-inch layer of coral sand at a depth of about 130 feet, and an excavation of the wreck was begun by the Far Eastern Foundation for Nautical Archaeology in cooperation with the National Museum of the Philippines.
On view for the first time to the to the public, more than thirty salvaged pieces--along with other trade ceramics from a later period--will be presented in the exhibition Sunken Treasures: Ming Dynasty Ceramics from a Chinese Shipwreck, on view at the Denver Art Museum November 18, 2000, through November 18, 2001. The dishes, bowls, and saucers, each decorated with exquisite floral designs painted in underglaze cobalt blue, come from the collection of Frederick R. Mayer, longtime supporter of the Museum and co-sponsor of the three-month long recovery project. In all, the San Isidro excavation yielded over 1,180 items, including intact ceramics, shards and cooking woks.
Both before and after the time of the San Isidro shipwreck, Chinese ceramics were crisscrossing the globe. Chinese trade with the Philippines goes back to around 500 BC, and a prosperous trade in ceramics existed between them during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. During the 1500s, when the ceramics found aboard the ship were made, older Chinese ceramics were being dug up from tombs in the Philippines and traded with Japan, where collectors admired Chinese antiques. Later, Chinese ceramics were sent across the Pacific Ocean to Mexico to be exchanged for (over) silver. Many of these were then transported to Vera Cruz for shipment across the Atlantic to Europe.
Sunken Treasures also features blue-and-white Qing dynasty porcelains from the Griffin, an English East India Company vessel that sank near the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines on January 21, 1761, as well as shards of Chinese blue-and-white wares excavated in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Palace of the Governors. The Spanish governor of New Mexico and others used Chinese ceramics while occupying the Palace from 1610 to 1680. A related selection of ivory carvings made in China and the Philippines in the 1700s from collection of the Denver Art Museum demonstrates how artists in Asia created images of saints, the Virgin Mary, and Christ for patrons in the New World and Europe.
This exhibition is made possible by the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. The porcelains from the Griffin are lent by Frederick R. Mayer. The shards from Santa Fe, New Mexico, are exhibited courtesy of the Palace of the Governors Museum.
The Denver Art Museum is located at 13th Avenue and Acoma Street in downtown Denver. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Wednesdays until 9 p.m.); Sunday noon to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays and most major holidays. Admission is $6.00 for adults; $4.50 for seniors and students 13 and older; children 12 and under and Denver Art Museum members admitted free of charge. Admission is also free for Colorado residents every Saturday, thanks to citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). For more information, call 303-640-4433 or consult the Museum�s Website at www.denverartmuseum.org. Adaptive and interpretive services are available with one week's notice by calling 303-640-2783. TTY 303-640-2789. www.denverartmuseum.org
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