No. 237 Maritime Archaeology in the People's Republic of China ...

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0 mm 50
Figure 124. Potters mark on a black bowl. Characters represent wang
meaning ‘king’ in English translation.
Figure 125. Evidence of potters finishing on a black bowl (CHI/
BJ1/O/104).
clay body is a white/grey colour. They are probably from kilns
in Fujian province and belong to the period of the Southern
Song (1127-1279).
Ce l a d o n C
This celadon piece could be considered the same in glaze and
construction as the celadon A type although it was obviously
substantially bigger in overall diameter. Only one fragment
of this dish type was found.
St o n e wa r e
A quantity of fragments and one complete stoneware jar
(Figures 34 & 35 &36) were recovered from the site. The
shards would appear to be from storage vessels. The thickness
of the body varies considerably from 3 mm to 8 mm. The clay
matrix was generally red brick with white fleck inclusions. Most
pieces evidenced potters turning ridges both on the external
and internal body pieces. Several of these shards were rim
pieces, and one had the remains of lugs attached.
The dimensions of the whole jar were as follows:
Rim thickness 6.7 mm
Rim diameter 61 mm
Widest point of the bodyat the shoulder 168 mm
Neck diameter 57 mm
Neck height 12 mm
Body thickness 8 mm
Base diameter 86 mm
Base thickness 14 mm
bl u e a n d w h i t e
One small piece of blue and white ceramic was recovered.
It had part of pattern that was not easy to decipher. It is
generally thought that this piece is extraneous to the wreck
proper and could well have come from the neighbouring Bai
Jiao 2 wreck site located to the north, on the other side of the
reef. Surface collection at Bai Jaio 2 has yielded abundant
blue and white ceramic material (refer to Figure 44) dating
to Ming Dynasty.
Conservation
After removal from the seabed the ceramic material was placed
in water filled tubs before being cleaned by scrubbing with
a soft bristle brush. All the mud and marine conglomerate
growth was subsequently removed, and only barnacles that
were particularly problematic were left. The artefacts were
bagged with tags corresponding to their appropriate grid square
with sufficient water to prevent them from dehydrating. They
were then stored in large tubs, packed with bubble wrap and
transported for storage and long-term conservation treatment
at the Department of Conservation, Fujian Provincial Museum.
The material will be slowly desalinated, and appropriate
treatments taken to remove remaining marine growth that in on
the surface. The ceramics are fairly robust and their treatment
should take no longer than one year. They displayed no signs
of salt leaching and impregnation to the extent that would
affect the glaze on drying.
Interpretation
hi S t o rY a n d t r a d e in Ch i n e S e C e r a m i C S
A major innovation in the trading patterns from the 10th century