This white circular box has a lid decorated with a moulded design of a peony flowering on a gnarled stem. There are also vertical ribbed band around the outer rim of the cover and all around the body. This box was from the Dehua kilns in Fujian province, famous in the West for producing pristine ‘blanc-de-chine’ porcelain. Sunk on the way to Batavia from China, the cargo on this ship would have eventually made it way to the European market where Chinese ceramics were popular and much valued. 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.
