Indonesian Ceramic Shipwreck Vessel

Pale, tall and narrow, like a pot that stood up straight for a very long time.

This shipwreck vessel is from Java Sea near Borneo, Indonesia, and dates to the 17th or 18th century. It is pottery. Wrecks such as the Turiang from about 1370, the Royal Nanhai from about 1460 and the Nanking cargo from about 1750 helped create shipwreck ceramics as a collecting category. Slim cylindrical jar in chalky gray-buff with a flat-topped collar and tiny lugs just below it. The body tapers gently, and the surface is dry and speckled with soil stains and small chips. It is 5 inches wide, 5 deep, 12 high and 0.17 in diameter.

Slender, sober, and quietly present.