Indonesian Ceramic Shipwreck Vessel

Honey-amber and ribbed all over, glossy as a jar of well-aged marmalade.

This shipwreck vessel is from Java Sea near Borneo, Indonesia, and dates to the 17th or 18th century. It is pottery. Many shipwreck ceramics surfaced when fishermen off the coasts of Indonesia and Southeast Asia began catching them in their nets, often still intact and looking no worse for centuries underwater. Oval jar with a tapered base and a slightly flared mouth, closed in a glossy amber-yellow glaze. Closely spaced horizontal ridges run around the body, with tiny handles at the neck and pale scuffs on the surface. It is 5 inches wide, 5 deep, 8.5 high and 0.12 in diameter.

Sweet-toned, well-ridged, and entirely unembarrassed by it.