Displaying Tang dynasty treasures from a ninth century shipwreck

A 1,100-year old, ninth century shipwreck discovered in 1998 with 60,000 Tang dynasty objects is preparing for a global tour to exhibit the historic pieces

By Virginia Lau 29 July, 2010

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Silver boxes

While most of the cargo is ceramic goods, these boxes represent a significant and intriguing metal cache made of precious bronze, silver, and gold objects. Scratches and other signs of use are visible on these boxes, and they may have contained medicine, make-up, incense, or similar precious essentials.

Multitude of Changsha bowls

These bowls, protected from erosion by their packing and the anaerobic conditions of the sea floor, comprised the vast majority of the ship’s cargo. Numbering over 56,000, they speak to a level of Chinese industrial might and production, at an era far earlier than many have imagined.

Green-splashed stemcup

Concealing the entrance to its built-in drinking spout, this sipping cup is not only charming, but also represents one of many exciting shapes produced in 9th-century ceramic production. With its distinctive green-splashed glaze, the cup fits into a rare group of items comprised of the cargo’s most distinctive forms.

Blue and white dish

This piece represents the earliest intact and complete designs of the vastly influential ceramic style known as blue-and-white. It was likely produced for export, and its style would become vastly important in the history of world ceramic – not only in the contemporary Middle East, but also in modern Europe, where blue-and-white developed into a prime trade good between England and the U.S.

Belitung Island

In 1998, sea-cucumber divers discovered the Arabian dhow off the coast of Belitung Island in Indonesia.

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Recently, Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Singapore Tourism Board and the National Heritage Board of Singapore announced their plans to produce “the first exhibition and international tour of one of the oldest and most important marine archeological finds of the late 20th century.”

The exhibition is expected to open some time between late-2010 to early-2011 in Singapore. The Tang Shipwreck Treasure: Singapore's Maritime Collection will showcase a ninth century Arabian dhow discovered off Indonesia's Belitung Island. In 1998, a group of sea-cucumber divers found the shipwreck along with its cargo of about 60,000 objects from the Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618 AD – June 4, 907 AD). Ceramics and rare gold pieces are among the objects to be displayed.

The discovery of the old ship and its cargo verify the presence of trade between China and areas beyond the Persian Gulf before the Portuguese arrived in Asia.

Organizers plan to hold the exhibition for five years at major museums in Asia, the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

To get the latest on exhibitions held by the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries, visit www.asia.si.edu.

Before editorial assistant Virginia Lau entered the CNNGo headquarters, she sipped on Hong Kong's finest cappuccino, studied international relations and taught English while living and traveling abroad.

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Displaying Tang dynasty treasures from a ninth century shipwreck

Silver boxes

Multitude of Changsha bowls

Green-splashed stemcup

Blue and white dish

Belitung Island

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