This is a record of two shipwrecks, dating from the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries, discovered off the coast of China, much of whose cargoes remained miraculously intact and were sold off at auction. The book describes the nature of the seaborne trade between the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, and China during and after the Ming dynasty, the location and techniques of porcelain manufacture, and means of payment used by Europeans including specie, bullion, and trade goods, some of which were recovered from the salvaged wrecks. The many illustrations show the great variety of porcelains that were brought to the surface and their state of preservation as well as contemporary manufacturing facilities, trading posts, docking facilities, auction houses, and the copper coins and gold and silver ingots used in the China trade. Appendices contain manifests of cargoes carried and lists of their dispersal (by lot numbers) after auction. -- AATA