Accession Number

1986.008.2283

Creation Date

circa 1622

Description

A large, heavily built earthenware jar of a type called a “tinaja.” The paste is like that used in the olive jars but with more gritty inclusions. Angled wavy lines run from the neck to the mid-section and connect to a similar decoration that encircles the piece. This ornamentation resembles flowing water and suggests the jar might have been used as a water dispenser on board Atocha, though in Spain tinajas were also used for the storage of wine and other liquids, as well as grains. The earliest tinajas date to the Bronze Age. In the colonial era, the manufacture of tinajas is associated with southern Spain. Height: 71.3 cm. Width: 66.3 cm.

Exhibition Label

Case/Object Caption (2023):

Tinajas
Earthenware (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.0851, 1986.008.2283

Known as tinaja, the earliest examples of storage jars like these date to the Bronze Age. Throughout the centuries, the Spanish used them to hold water, wine, and other liquids, as well as grains. The wavy lines inscribed on these two jars resembles flowing water, perhaps to identify its contents.

The water marshal managed the ship’s supply of drinking water. Water was as bulky as it was vital and carrying too much of it would limit the ship’s capacity for cargo. At the start of each voyage, the water marshal would buy the freshest water he could, knowing that it would be foul tasting, green with algae, and possibly even brackish by the end of the voyage. He had to dole out the water carefully, providing enough to drink while making sure that there was no waste.

These tinajas are from the wreck site of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, where the water marshal was Pedro Rodriguez. He is described in the ship’s manifest as twenty-six years old, of average height, with a long nose and a “Nazarene” beard. He drowned in the disaster, but the water marshal of the Santa Margarita, Lorenzo Garcia, was saved.
Previous Exhibit Case Caption: Removed 2022. CERAMICS Spanish culture in the early 17th century relied heavily on ceramic vessels of all types to carry on with day-to-day life. From tableware to storage containers to cargo, pottery served many needs aboard the ships. It has often been suggested that this emphasis on ceramics is the result of a lack of forests to create wooden containers, but the reality is more complex than that. The ceramic tradition in Spain, and especially Seville, is the result of strong cultural influences. The Romans first brought an appreciation for pottery to the area. This was followed by a 700-year occupation of the region by the Arabic Moors, who expanded it. The ceramics found on the galleons show a strong evidence of both traditions, as well as the more contemporary influence of Renaissance Italy. With few exceptions, the ceramic types found the 1622 ships are made of some form of earthenware. Most were made in the area of Seville. Because the fleet was returning to Spain the ceramics were certainly for shipboard use, but often the first leg of the Americas voyage ships would carry cargoes of ceramics for sale to the colonies.