Large Ming porcelain bowl, recovered from the Binh Thuan wreck, Vietnam, painted with reserves of flowers and Buddhist symbols, the rim with flowers and foliage. wrecked, porcelain slightly earlier, circa 1608.The Bihn Thuan wreck was discovered by Vietnamese fishermen, and pieces began to appear on the market in Asia in the 1990's. This is one such piece. Around 1608, this ill-fated vessel with its valuable cargo of mostly blue and white 'Swatow ware' from Zhangzhou was probably headed for markets in Malaysia or Indonesia, which were well-established consumers of Chinese ceramics. An Archaeological examination andmercial recovery in 2002 brought the pieces to the surface. The pieces that were released by the government were sold at Christies Melbourne in 2004. While this example was purchased in Malaysia before the Melbourne auction, it is undoubtedly from the wreck, and was recovered & sold by the initial discoverers, the fishermen of Bihn Thuan, Vietnam.