Ceramics of the Sea:
Four Shipwrecked Cargoes
A lecture by Colin Sheaf
7pm, Friday, 25 September 2015
Level 1 Visitors’ Briefing Room
National Library Building Singapore
In this lecture, Colin Sheaf, Chairman of Bonham’s Asia, explored the discoveries of four Chinese porcelain cargoes that sank in the South China Sea.
Chinese ceramics have long been manufactured for export to foreign markets. Coveted as luxury goods, the Chinese ceramic export trade saw increased commerce between European nations and Islamic sultans during the sixteenth century. The discovery of sunken cargoes, provide unique insight into the ceramic production in and around Jingdezhen during this time. Changes in technology, ceramic production and design in China will be discussed.
About Colin D. Sheaf
Colin Sheaf has had a distinguished 37-year career in the auction industry after reading Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford. A world authority on Asian ceramics and Chinese Art, he directs Asian Art specialist teams on four continents, holding sales in London, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
One of his many career highlights remains the unequaled sale he organised in 1986, the ‘Nanking Cargo’. salvaged from the ‘Geldermalsen’, a homeward-bound Dutch East India merchant ship that sunk in 1752, the unique cargo of some 150,000 pieces of ‘new’ Chinese Export porcelain and gold.
This was a public lecture and SEACS members were encouraged to invite friends.
