This bowl is an example of ‘provincial’ bowls mass-produced to be exported as wares for everyday use. It might have been decorated with overglaze enamels but due to long periods of immersion in the sea, the glaze has deteriorated until nothing remained but a few blackened dots. Generally, such ‘provincial’ wares are of a lower quality and come with designs less formal than those of Jingdezhen. This piece was part of a sizable cargo of Chinese export ceramics and porcelain uncovered from a late 17th century shipwreck near Vung Tau, Vietnam. The ship was enroute to Batavia from China, and the cargo on it would have eventually made it way to the Southeast Asian market where Chinese ceramics were popular and much valued.
