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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botija (container) | 3/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botija_(container) | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:14:21.533021+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Production == The production of botijas was concentrated in Andalusia, with Seville being the most important center of ceramic production in the Iberian Peninsula during the Early modern period. The Casa de Contratación de Indias (the institution that controlled trade with the New World) was established in Seville in 1503, where it remained until it was transferred to Cádiz in 1717. The need for ceramic containers to hold merchandise sent to the New World led to development of potters' neighborhoods in Seville and Cádiz. Ceramic containers similar to botijas were produced in Portuguese centers such as Aveiro and in Spanish possessions in the Americas, but did not necessarily match the standards of jars produced in Seville. Colin Martin suggested that there were "official" and "civilian" botijas, with the official jars being Goggin's Form B (globular) in two sizes, while civilian jars varied considerable in shape. The jars were thrown in two parts. The body of the jars from the base up to the widest part was thrown as one part, and the top was thrown as another. The two parts were then joined with a slip while being turned on a wheel. Busto-Zapico surmises that the potter throwing the base did not throw the top and did not know what the final size of the jars would be. Production of botijas was probably seasonal, with individual potters producing about 6,000 jars a year. New large bojitas cost just under one Spanish real in the 16th century, the price of a liter of olive oil, almost two pounds of meat or fish, or more than four pounds of corn. Some jars with a distinctive red paste and a different style of rim marks may have been produced in Cazalla de la Sierra, 75 km north-northeast of Seville. Cazalla was an important wine-producing area, and botijas of wine from Cazalla were listed on several manifests of shipments to the New World. Such jars have been found at the Santo Domingo Monastery in Antigua Guatemala, the Huaco Palomin site in Peru, and Santa Elena (in South Carolina), in wrecks of ships in the Spanish Armada of 1588 and, possibly, in the Nuestra Señora de Atocha wreck in the Florida Keys.
== Sizes == Botijas of all styles varied in all dimensions, indicating that the jars were thrown free-hand without the use of a template. Jar sizes tend to cluster around small fractions or multiples of traditional Spanish measures, which may indicate that potters used some sort of device like a rope or a piece of wood to roughly gauge the size of the jars. The jars predominantly were made in two sizes, one arroba or a bit more, and one-half arroba or more. In the 16th century, large botijas were at least one arroba, and commonly about 11⁄4 arrobas. By early in the 17th century a 11⁄4 arrobas jar was described as "ordinary" compared to a "large" jar of 11⁄2 arrobas. The half-arroba jars were based on an oil arroba, used to measure olive oil because it is less dense than water (and wine and vinegar). A water arroba weighed 34 Spanish libras, while an oil arroba weighed 25 Spanish libras. An oil arroba held 79% of the volume of a water arroba. Traditional units of measure in Spain during the period varied between regions, but a 11⁄4 (water) arroba jar held about 20 litres of wine or water. An oil arroba was just over 12.5 litres, so that a half-arroba jar held close to 6.3 litres of oil, 31% of the capacity of a 11⁄4 arroba jar. A detailed inventory of jars of pork lard stored at St Augustine in 1599 noted that each perulera (large jar) held as much lard as three of the botijuellas (small jars). While jars of other sizes are occasionally listed in records, the large jars of about 11⁄4 water arrobas and small jars of 1⁄2 oil arrobas predominated in ceramic vessels. When production of botijas began in America in the late 16th century, the walls of the jars were frequently much thicker than the ones from Spain, so that an American-made jar full of wine or oil might weight as much as a Spanish-made one, but contain less wine or oil. Authorities in Chile instituted fines on potters who consistently produced under-capacity botijas.
== Rim marks == Rim marks have been found on Goggin's Middle Style jars, but not Early or Late style jars. The marks appear to represent the merchant shipping the jars or the intended recipient of the jar. Some ship manifests have been found on which the merchant or purchaser and the mark on the jars are listed. Most marks were applied before the jars were fired, usually with a device like a branding iron, leaving an indented mark, or, in a few cases, a raised mark produced by a stamp with an indented design. Some marks were made free-hand with a pointed instrument. A few jars were marked after firing by scratching or filing a design on the rim. Rim shapes and marks can be used for approximately dating jars. No marked rims have been reliably dated to before 1583 or after 1641.