Accession Number

2002.003.0006

Creation Date

circa 1622

Description

A small earthenware jar comes from the wreck of the merchant patache Buen Jesus, sunk in the deep water between Florida and Cuba in 1622. The stout jar is made of a fine reddish paste that is covered inside and out with grayish tin enameling, much of which has been abraded. The exterior is encircled with ridges at the widest part of the body. The jar stands 14.0 centimeters tall, and it is 11.0 centimeters at its widest diameter.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

HOUSEHOLD CERAMICS

Pottery in all its forms was made throughout South America since pre-historic times. It was often painted or decorated with incised designs, but glazing was unknown. Archaeological evidence indicates that Indigenous potters adopted glazing from European artisans once they learned the process. They also freely adapted European designs for their own ceramics while producing dinnerware and other basic forms useful to the colonists.

Most of the ceramics found on the 1622 fleet were made in Spain. However, in the colonies, Panama became particularly known for its production of majolica (tin-glazed ceramics), and there was also a major pottery in Lima.
Object Caption (2023):

Jar
Earthenware (c.1620)
Gift of U-Store-It Inc.
2002.003.0006

This jar was found on the wreck site of one of the smaller vessels in the fleet, the Buen Jesus.