Tales of the Southern Seas ; Fancy Drinking Tea From an 18th Century Chinese Teapot Salvaged From the Bottom of the Ocean? Katrina Burroughs Is Romanced by Shipwreck Sales
Evening Standard - London › March 16, 2005
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Summary
HOW often is fascinating historical provenance accompanied by bargain prices?
Only in the salty sphere of shipwreck ceramics, where you can buy 200-year-old tableware with a tale to tell, from Pounds 10. From the 17th century, merchant ships, carrying silks, silver, gold, spices and tea, plied back and forth across the Indian Ocean and South China Sea on the various trading routes between Europe and Asia. Many carried oriental porcelain, bound for affluent middleclass Western tables. At the time, the ceramics in the holds of these ships were worth far less than the tea packed around them, sometimes only five per cent of the value of the entire shipment. Their primary function was as ballast.See the full content of this document
Extract
Tales of the Southern Seas ; Fancy Drinking Tea From an 18th Century Chinese Teapot Salvaged From the Bottom of the Ocean? Katrina Burroughs Is Romanced by Shipwreck Sales
However, the export china found a ready market when the ship reached her destination, where it was usually auctioned on the docks.
All too frequently, these fresh, simple, blue-andwhite dinner services and decoratives took an unplanne...See the full content of this document
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