2 Antique Chinese Song/Yuan Dynasty 13th/14th Century Shipwreck Mercury Storage Jars Home Decor

2 Chinese Song/Yuan Dynasty 13th/14th Cent. Mercury Shipwreck Storage Jars
Region: China
Height: 18cm Diameter: 11cm
These two unique Chinese mercury storage jars were immersed in the Java Sea for centuries. They are in good condition, however the jars as shipwreck cargo show some minor mollusc shell encrustations. Please view all of the photos.

These funnel-form hollow storage vessels were recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea near Kalimantan, Indonesia. Vessels like these were kept inside storehouses and also used to store rice wine.
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. 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.

FYI from an article by Beprimitive about similar shipwreck ceramics excavated from the Java Sea...
In the late 1970s a lone fishing boat rocked gently on the waves of the Java Sea just off the coast of Kalimantan, Indonesia. They silently went about their work, hauling in nets full of fish, clams and seaweed. A single deckhand leaned over the boat to pull a net over the side when his fingers curled around an unexpected shape. It was hard, too large to be a shell and too uniform to be a rock. It felt man made. He pulled it onto the deck and crouched down to untangle it from the net and flopping fish. "Rangga, what did you land?” yelled the Captain. The fisherman tugged the large object loose and as the first rays
of the sun broke over the horizon, he began to examine it closely. Moments later he shrugged and replied, "Just an old pot."
The boat returned to its dock at Kendawagan and the men began to unload their catch. When the boat was empty and secure, Rangga picked up the pot and headed into the bustling harbor town. No one on the boat really cared if he kept it or not, but he found the vessel pleasing. It had an oval shape, a smooth rimmed mouth, and was dark brown in color with a streak of grey accenting its middle. He was going to give it to his wife as a gift.
On his way home, Rangga stopped at a warung, an open air food stall to grab his favorite snack, sticky sambal rice balls. Eating his food on a rough hewn table, he noticed two European men frequently glancing his way. After a while, the two approached and asked about the pot. Much to Rangga’s surprise they offered to buy it on the spot. Utterly perplexed, he asked what was so important about the old weathered pot. "Although it's just an old Chinese vase,” said one of the men, “it’s intact.”
“How old?” asked Rangga.
“Several hundred years,” came the reply. “It was likely part of the cargo on a trading ship that sank off the coast."

Rangga decided to take the money and, in turn, he bought his wife a small amulet featuring her favorite god. When he gave it to her, they both agreed that the god had smiled upon them that day.

When this happened, similar incidents were occurring all along the Indonesian and Southeast Asian coasts. Curators and archaeologists were racing each other to find ancient wreckage sites on the bottom of the sea. What surfaced gave precious clues to life in the past. Rangga and other fishermen making similar finds did not know the stories told by these recovered ceramics reached back beyond a thousand years to a time when over half the known world was dominated by Chinese trade.