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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_galleon

Manila galleon maritime route

Approximately 1600 pieces of porcelain were recovered. Except two intact bowls, the rest were fragments.  They consisted of mainly Jingdezhen blue and white and some overglaze enamelled  wares.  There were also some Zhangzhou blue and white wares.

Blue and white fragments from the San Juanillo wreck
Fragments with overglaze enamelled decoration
Fujian Zhangzhou blue and white fragments

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.  

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EcYQ3acNw549bVB0Hue03g

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.
 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157251120568713&id=69260371

   
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.

http://koh-antique.com/belanakan/belanakan%20wreck.htm

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.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/aognW2orTx5LSyf_9ULD2Q

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:

http://www.koh-antique.com/swatow/swatow.htm

Zhangzhou blue and white in San Isidro wreck (koh-antique.com)



Written by: NK Koh (25 Apr 2023)