Song/Yuan Dynasty Shipwreck Mercury Jar
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Description
Authentic Chinese Song/Yuan Dynasty 13th/14th Century Shipwreck Pottery Mercury Jar
Height: 8.5 inches / 21cm
Diameter: 3.25 inches / 8cm
This funnel-form mercury storage vessel was recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea near Kalimantan, Indonesia.
While the Silk Road had provided overland trade routes since ancient times, it was overtaken by a dramatic increase of maritime trade during the Song and Yuan dynasties – from the 10th to 14th centuries.
At that time, Quanzhou in Fujian Province was considered the largest port in the world.The government actively encouraged and supported foreign trade. Merchant ships would set sail east to Japan, south to the Java sea, all around India, theMiddle East, Africa and as far west as the Mediterranean.
Funnel-shaped earthenware from the late Song or earlyYuan periods were believed to have carried mercury, an element that had fascinated the Chinese since ancient times. For centuries, alchemists believed mercury was associated with immortality.
