Nauticalia

Working in the waters off the town of Ca Mau, Vietnam, fishermen discovered this remarkable cargo by accident, in 1998. The unknown ship sank as the result of a fire, somewhere between 1723 and 1735, whilst carrying Qing dynasty porcelain destined for the wealthy markets in Europe and the Far East. The finely-patterned blue and white designs of this era are widely recognised as some of the most beautiful ever made, and fetch very high prices at auction. It is far superior to anything that could be produced in the West at the time.