which the Dutch East India Company (VOC) had arranged to carry a cargo, mainly of Chinese silk, to their station at Johore in modern Malaysia, perhaps intending to trade the ceramics for spices around the Spice Islands. There were thousands of "medium-sized dishes", as well as some blue and white ones up to 42 cm across, and smaller dishes and jars. There were many designs, repeated in batches, much as in modern ceramic output, but with the designs varying from the free and presumably rapid execution. European European markets were probably much less significant, and the Kraak ware of the same period was probably always sent in greater quantity there. This has many similarities but was all in underglaze blue and white. The Portuguese had traded at Yuegang until expelled in 1548, but were allowed to return from 1567, and in 1577 were allowed to establish a station at Macao. The Santos Palace in Lisbon has a room decorated between 1664 and 1687 with a spectacular angled ceiling covered with Chinese blue and white porcelain dishes; three of these have been identified as Swatow ware. The Spanish, who were settled at Manila in the Philippines, carried goods including Chinese luxuries between there and New World ports such as Acapulco in the Manila galleon trade. Swatow ware has been recovered from several Spanish sites and wrecks, including Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho's San Agustin, wrecked in 1595 at Drakes Bay, just north of San Francisco. The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, traded with Indonesia, a major market for the wares. They were not allowed to trade directly with China, and contented themselves with capturing any Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese vessels they could, and probably arranging deliveries to their bases by Chinese ships. From 1624 they had a base on Formosa (modern Taiwan). The rather similar export Kraak porcelain was adapted to suit European tastes, which Swatow ware never seems to have been. Later Swatow wares may have been exported directly to Europe by the Dutch. These European trades have left fragments of Swatow ware at various land sites and wrecks around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Collections The pieces have remained appreciated in their original markets, especially in Indonesia and Japan, where there are several good collections. They were generally not collected by the Chinese and most Western and Chinese museums with good collections of ceramics have sparse