Marked Down Imperssive Shallow Bowl from China Sea Shipwreck of theTek Sing

This lot is ONE BOWL and it is one of two such as you can see in the photos. In the second photo you can see the two nearly identical pieces., a yellow-trimmed bowl and a hand-painted larger shallow bowl/plated.These pieces were recovered from the Tek Sing that searchers named it the Asian Titanic; considering how many such lost ships were discovered in the 1990's I do not know the reasoning for calling it that. Such vessels that have been on the sea floor for hundreds of years don't give up their position easily. Tides, currents and storms and/or a particulaly rough ride to the bottom can have a strong effect on where the ship lies. After arduous efforts in Asian waters, divers have found many missing ships including some that are unknown. The hunts began with painstakign research about known shipwrecks and it could take literally years to locate a specific ship. But in searching off the Vietnam coast, for example, where the HOI AN was discovered, other vessels carrying similar items were also discovered.

The ships can be broken apart (we're dealing with wooden boats remember), rotted and also often discovered with all or part of the ship lodged securely UNDER the sea bed rather than lying on it.

But with sensitive equipment and experienced crews, weeks still turn to months and even years after an initial discovery--not of the ship itself but rather a srewn field of all types of cargo in various stages of disrepair.

I HAVE 3 OF THESE 3 1/2-INCH DIAMETER BOWLS. I have listed this as a single item with THREE total available and the price is per piece. All are in speldid condition. It is difficult to tell exactly what colors they were painted as it is unlikely that they were exactly as they appear now. The brown swirly designs could well have been shades different before they spent 200+ years underwater. And, each shipwreck had certain styles of items sorted in crates and barrels in different storage areas aboard the vessel. Hundreds of pieces in a barrel may have been broken while a small number may have been situated such that they were protected from damage and also from salt water for the most part. The strewn fields also vary dramatically and it is not always possible to find the actual vessel, which may have broken up, been buried hundreds of yards from the scattered items and so on.