What every Medieval kitchen needs: The Jug

The kitchen is more than cookpots. In a kitchen, one needs storage jars for all those ingredients to keep them dry. Colanders, mortar and pestles for crushing, bowls for mixing, and serving plates. There wasn't running water in the house (well, unless the roof was leaking, which is bad) so, having jugs to go gather water from the well or nearest water source was a good thing to have.

The jug was a multi-tasker. It not only brought water into the home for cooking, but it could also hold other liquids (ale, wine, broth, soups, etc) both hot and cold. One can also use it to fill a tub for the yearly bath (in some cultures) or help do the washing. Some people used jugs to drink directly from while others used as pitchers. Some had pinched spouts, while others didn't. And it isn't a surprise by it's versatility that there are so many jugs of so many sizes and shapes found in digs.

I'll be posting a number of Jugs to show a few examples in the future.

Accession number: A15259
Collection place: Hertfordshire
Production date: Late Medieval; mid 14th-mid 15th century
Material: ceramic; earthenware
Measurements: H 330 mm
Museum Section: Medieval
Summary: Late Medieval Hertfordshire Glazed ware baluster jug with green glaze, stabbed handle and stamped boss decoration in the form of stars.
Location: Object stored at Mortimer Wheeler House (Ceramics and Glass store)
Category: Medieval glazed ware.
Sub-category: Late Hertfordshire glazed ware.

Cookware in Late Medieval England

As I research pots to make, I figured I would post a few of the more interesting I come across in a series.

I have many pottery books I've collected over the years, but I tend to look over the Museam of London's online collection a lot. I do this because of their variety as well as they tend to add stuff, which to me, is fairly exciting if it is a new shape or new item that they haven't had up before.

One of the first ceramic objects I am posting is a dripping dish. Details below:

Accession number: 23053
Collection place: Hertfordshire
Production date: Late Medieval; mid 14th-mid 15th century
Material: ceramic; earthenware
Measurements: H 44 mm; L 301 mm; W 240 mm
Museum Section: Medieval
Summary: Reconstructed Late Medieval Hertfordshire Glazed ware dripping dish, with pinched pouring lip at complete end, straight strap handle in centre; almost complete.
Location: Object stored at Mortimer Wheeler House (Ceramics and Glass store)
Category: Medieval glazed ware.
Sub-category: Late Hertfordshire glazed ware.



Looking at this, to me, it looks like the other side that is broken, may have had a pinched pouring lip as well, but I would have to look at a few other examples to make sure they were made in production like that. I think that it had one because it looks a little thicker before the break, preparing for that.

I found an interesting account of dripping dishes and use at Pennsic 2009 (as well as cooking at Pennsic, which was the main point of the article) over here.