A group of late 16th century Chinese porcelains with datable English mounts

Summary

Besides learning from sherds of Chinese porcelain that have turned up in terrestrial and underwater sites, we can learn from porcelain with datable mounts in European collections. Five pieces of blue and white Chinese porcelain from the late 16th century now in the collection of The Metropolitan Musuem of Art in New York, came originally from Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, and they may have come through trade between England and Turkey. The mounts are datable to 1575-1585, and the pieces compare closely to sherds found in Drakes Bay, Baja California and Panama Vieja. There were very few pieces of Chinese porcelain in England during that time, so that they provide important documentary evidence of trade between England and the Levant and they can also help with dating porcelain sherds found in other sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Revelatory Power of an Artifact in Context   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-14,03