Redware Foot of Bowl (Archaeological Find)
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Title:
Redware Foot of Bowl
Subject:
Colonial foodways were very different from how we eat now. Because no refrigeration was available, meals depended on what was in season, and raw fruits and vegetables were not popular. Dinner, the main meal of the day, was consumed in the afternoon. Food contained high levels of grease, seasoning, and sweetener by modern standards (Crews). At 17th Century Harvard College, all student meals would have been prepared and eaten in the Old College building in Harvard Yard.
Pipkins (colonial cooking pots) were mainly used for everyday cooking activities and placed over a wood stove during food preparation–hence their footed structure. Typically made from redware, pipkins were usually lead-glazed except for the base exterior (Historic Jamestowne). The lack of decoration on this sherd supports the hypothesis that the vessel was a utilitarian piece, used in everyday cooking.
This sherd is relatively unrefined, as evidenced by the coarse pattern along which it appears to have broken. The quality of the clay suggests that the piece was domestically produced, as local quality was much lower than that of imports (Hume 99). We can infer that this piece most likely dates to the 17th century due to positive identifications of other artifacts found at the same depth, including pipe stems and glassware.
Source:
Crews, Ed. 2004. "Colonial Foodways." Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Autumn. Accessed April 29. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/autumn04/food.cfm
Historic Jamestowne. 2017. “Essex Post-Medieval Fine Redware.” Jamestown Rediscovery, accessed April 29, 2017. http://historicjamestowne.org/collections/ceramics-research-group/essex-post-medieval-fine-redware/
Hume, Ivor Noël. 1969. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. New York: Knopf.
Object Name:
Redware Foot of Bowl
Inventory Description:
Redware foot of a bowl, likely a pipkin.
Peabody Number:
2016.26.507
Culture/Period:
17th Century
Intrasite:
H933 Level 4
Depth:
76-86cm
Class 1:
Ceramic
Class 2:
Sherd
Class 3:
Base
Quantity:
1
Height (cm):
4.3
Width (cm):
3.9
Depth/Thickness (cm):
3.7