Antiques – The Japanese Treasures of Cape May County

On Dec. 15, 1901, a treasure trove of richly decorated Japanese artifacts washed up on the shores of Cape May County. They arrived when the cargo ship, Sindia, ran aground off Ocean City. The ship was heavily laden with merchandise headed for New York City just in time for an expected Christmas rush.
Much of the Sindia’s treasure was “recovered” by local residents. As a result, rural Cape May County became the unlikely home for the kinds of decorative arts you would expect to find in the Gilded Age homes of New York and Philadelphia.
I thought Cape May County was rural when I moved here 30 years ago, and all of Route 9 was farms. But in 1901, they were just clearing out the last of the stray cattle that grazed the barrier islands. No, this was not the place you would expect to find the Sindia’s exotic cargo.
I still hear it from customers – “You didn’t get this stuff down here, did you?” And I’ll answer. “Of course. You’d be surprised the treasures you can find in here on the Cape.”
Here’s a list of just some of the treasure that was liberated from the Sindia. They are all antiques now, and over 100 years old.
Imari, the most popular of the wares, was particularly admired by the English and those decorating in the English style. Imari is a fine hand-painted porcelain, richly decorated, usually, but not exclusively in dark blue and red.
Kutani porcelain of the 19th Century was usually hand-painted in red and gold, and often marked with either red characters underneath of gold characters on a square of red paint.
Satsuma wares were mostly pottery, although some dining wares were made in porcelain. The decorative art pottery is characterized by moriage (end-rhymes with mirage) decoration, a technique that consists of wet clay, called slip, piped on a piece like icing on a cake.
Celadon is a green glaze originally developed by the Chinese as homage to jade. Japanese celadon is often has hand-painted decoration in relief.
Nippon, the Japanese name for Japan appeared underneath Japanese ware imported into America between 1891 and 1921. Collectors look for decorative pieces with European-style décorations and heavy gold detail.
These wares are each discussed in more detail in my book, and there is a also chapter with all the amazing statistics about the Sindia incident. Japanese artifacts are now a treasured part of Cape May County’s history and culture, and can and should take a proud place of honor in any local home, however unlikely a place that might be.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.