This spice dish was part of a sizable cargo of Chinese export ceramics and porcelain uncovered from a late 17th century shipwreck near Vung Tau, Vietnam. Decorated with underglaze blue motifs of floral scrolls and a band of leaves, it has a wide flaring top, a short stem, a domed foot and a circular recess in the center. Scholars have suggested that it might have contained expensive spices, such as pepper or nutmeg, in the center and the wide rim was to prevent any spillage. Although expensive, porcelain became the fashion among the class of new rich merchants and bourgeoisie in Europe who could afford to buy porcelain from far-away China, thus enhancing their status and at the same time, embellishing their tables, cabinets and interiors.
