Jade Dragon Wreck

(c.1300)

Background

Fishermen found a wreck off the northern-most tip of Borneo. Maritime Explorations surveyed the site under license from the Sabah Museum, within 3 months of the initial discovery. It was found to be fully looted, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly frequent.

Despite the looting there were enough ship's timbers remaining to identify the wreck as a Southeast Asian lashed-lug ship. The earliest known example dates to the 3rd century AD. The Jade Dragon wreck is the latest, dating to around 1300 AD based on the ceramic finds.

This is the first recorded wreck with an exclusive cargo of Longquan celadon. Celadon was initially made to emulate jade. The most spectacular pieces found on the wreck are dragon-decorated chargers. Hence the wreck name, Jade Dragon.

Publication

The Jade Dragon Wreck: Sabah, East Malaysia, The Mariner's Mirror, Vol. 98 No. 1, 2012.

The China-Borneo Ceramics Trade Around the 13th Century: The Story of Two Wrecks, in Ancient Silk Trade Routes: Selected Works from a Symposium on Cross Cultural Exchanges and Their Legacies in Asia, Editors: Qin Dashu and Yuan Jian, World Scientific, Singapore, 2015, pp.111-136.