A number of items from the Hoi An cargo feature
at John Dunphy’s auction in Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare on February 22. There are a couple of opium boxes, a blue and white ginger jar, a blue and while porcelain elephant, a monkey mother and baby and a rice bowl among 1,000 lots. All carry certificates of authenticity.
Discovered in a shipwreck off Vietnam in the 1990’s much of the cargo was sold in San Francisco. Museum curators competed for the best pieces, but there was a lot on offer and some remained unsold. Hoi An pieces regularly turn up on e-Bay. The pieces to be sold in Ireland range in estimate from 250 to 600.