Ming Blue & White Porcelain Saucer Sherd
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1958
label: Collection Date
content: 2 Jun 1948 to 7 Jun 1948
name: label: Collector
content: Frederick D. McCarthy
label: Collector
content: Frank M. Setzler
label: Donor Name
content: American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
notes: label: Notes
content: REFER TO MCCARTHY AND SETZLER P.287-294 FOR DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF THE SHERDS FOUND, ALSO PLATE 19 (PHOTO OF SHERDS). THE SHERDS WERE ANALYSED BY A CURATOR [Kamer Aga-Oglu] AT THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, U OF MICHIGAN: "THE PORCELAIN SHERD IS TYPICAL MING BLUE AND WHITE AND DATES FROM THE 15TH OR EARLY 16TH CENTURY." PROBABLY MADE IN THE PROVINCE OF KIANGSI/JIANGXI, AUTHORS SUGGEST THAT THIS IS TYPICAL OF THE MAKASSAN FISHERMEN, FURTHER PROVED BY THE ASSOCIATIONS WITH TAMARIND TREES IN THE AREA, TREPANG SITES, ASIATIC SKELETONS, AND INFLUENCE ON THE CULTURE, MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE. AUTHORS CONCLUDE THAT ALL THE POTTERY COLLECTED ON THIS EXPEDITION WAS BROUGHT BY THE MACASSANS AND NOT MADE BY THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL PEOPLE. (SRJONES 11/96) FROM CARD: "FROM A MACASSAR [MACASSAN] TREPANG SITE ON WINCHELSEA ISLAND, JUST NORTH OF GROOTE EYLANDT."
label: Notes
content: Kamer Aga-Oglu later gave updated information on the dating of this sherd to Campbell Macknight which was included as Note 22 on page 162 of his 1976 book: Macknight, C.C. 1976 The voyage to Marege: Macassan trepangers in northern Australia. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press: "One piece of import ware deserves special mention. A blue and white porcelain saucer from Winchelsea Island was originally identified as 'a typical Ming blue and white .. dating not later than the very beginning of the sixteenth century and may very well be of the late fifteenth century' (Kamer Aga-Oglu in McCarthy and Setzler, 'Archaeology of Arnhem Land', p. 294). However, further work over the last twenty years has entailed many revisions of previous ideas. Mrs. Aga-Oglu has therefore kindly reconsidered the sherd and concluded that 'the dating I assigned to the blue-and-white sherd in 1950 ... should indeed be altered. That sherd cannot be earlier than the late 16th century (Wan Li, 1573-1619) and may in all probability be of the first half of the 17th century, a late Ming product' (letter of 13 October 1969 to C. C. Macknight). She also dates various other sherds found in 1966 and 1967 to the same period, but no earlier, and certainly this sherd is by no means exceptional. Other authorities date similiar material slightly later. The date of use, or rather breakage, is another matter again."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 25 Jun 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Winchelsea Island (Akwamburkba), Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Aboriginal Australian
label: Culture
content: Chinese Ming Dynasty
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 215944
label: USNM Number
content: A419661-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sherd