Small gold ingot, weighing about 370 grams,
with traces from its casting and Chinese inscriptions in the centre.
The Prince de Conty was located in 1976 by Patrick Lizé through archival research. It is one of the few vessels of the French East India Company that has been studied up to now. The 600-ton ship was constructed in 1743 by the architect Chambry junior. On 3 December 1746, on its return from China, it lost its way around the South-Western coast of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, about two hours off Lorient, the Company's official harbor.
Excavations conducted in 1985 showed that its cargo consisted of tea transported in lead-lined coffers, red wood used as dye, small gold ingots, and a packet of Chinese porcelain from the early reign of the emperor Qianlong (1736-1795).
The cargo of the Prince de Conty is important proof for the importation of such goods at the middle of the eighteenth century. It is part of the very small group of vessels owned by East India companies that were recorded around the world, such as the Sussex and the Mauritius.
Small gold ingot, weighing about 370 grams,
with traces from its casting and Chinese inscriptions in the centre.
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Chinese porcelain, a large octagonal plate with blue decoration under a cover of enamel damaged by water, but visible under raking light. Hundreds of thousands of fragments of everyday porcelain, but also of very fine porcelain decorated with gold, were strewn about the site of the Prince de Conty. In the mid-eighteenth century, importation of Chinese porcelain was at its peak. | |
Excavation : Michel L'Hour, DRASSM
Photos : Michel L'Hour. Drawing of the ceramics : Florence Richez, DRASSM
