cf. Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, op. cit., col. pl. 84 for a group of small covered boxes and covers and p. 50 for a discussion on miniature items, small boxes, vases and jars in many different shapes. Such pieces had been popular exports to S.E. Asia during the late Song and Yuan periods and they appeared again when the junk trade revived at the end of the fifteenth century. Kilburn suggests ''that these fine wares would have been too expensive to be sold in any numbers in Asian markets. There is no sign of such pieces among the VOC orders to Holland, so perhaps our enterprising merchant was hoping to create a new demand for them before events overtook him''.