There were few dishes in the cargo decorated with brilliant blue glaze. Although produced in China, they used cobalt glaze, which was mined in Iran. And the lozenge motif on them is a design favoured in the Middle East. These blue-and-white plates are Chinese responses to the Middle Eastern design, using a material that could only have been brought from Iran.

More than 50,000 hand-painted bowls were found in the wreckage of the ship and are now in the museum's collection. The bowls were made in Changsha, a city deep in Hunan province. Common designs are fish, flowers, birds and mountains, but there are also more unusual designs, to be viewed in the gallery.

The long curly hair and billowing clothing of the musicians and dancer identify them as Central Asian. The bearded faces on the handle are also evidently foreign. As the theme of the design is revelry and entertainment, the cup would probably have been used for wine drinking on such an occasion. This cup is the largest of the type known.