Page 124 - Loss of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia, 1629

BAT 2136
GfPH:OVMVJ~f)ANSEN:SLA SEN:~o!DEJ:BVREN:AL5.w £R-EN :S.EI:RAS£' :£RI:VE sP R le tl T·B~
This is the famous 'Farmers Dance' (Ballern/anz) jug. Fragments of this jug give the main part of the frieze with the inscription: 'GERET : DVMVS : DANSEN : BLASEN: SO : DEI: BVREN : ALS : WEREN: SE! : RASEl : ERl : V E S P R I C l I T : B - ' . T h e f r i e z e i s t h e s a m e a s o n e i l l u s t r a t e d in v o n K o h n e m a n n ( 1 9 8 2 : 1 9 5 ( l o w e r ) ) . T h e m i s s i n g w o r d s at the end of the frieze, according to von Kohnemann, would be ': BASTOR: lCH:' followed by the date. These two friezes are unusual as the fourth word is normally 'DAPER'. Similar friezes are shown in Hellebrandt (1977), particu- larly No. 50. The author was given an almost identical example by Mr van Beuningen from a waster site at Raren (BA T Special No. FI538). This frieze has the inscription: ' ?: DV: MVS : DA?ER:??AS :: ALS : WEREN:: BASEN: FRS : VERSP ??ClIT: BASIO : CH : VERDANS??KP'.
This material is characterized by a generally strong, uniformly blue-grey stoneware, decorated with impressed and sprigged work. The body is grey (MunselllOPB 7(2) with a tinge or blue, caused by the volatilization in the kiln, orthe cobalt used in the decoration. Usually the sprigging is picked out in cobalt-blue (MunselllOPB 3/10). In some cases, the stoneware is degraded, again indicating that the object has been incompletely frred. In such instances, the salt glaze is flaked and crazed. In some examples, the glaze has puddled to give an 'orange peel' effect, whereas in other cases the glaze has fused totally with the body. A number of the bases show evidence of the square of refectory clay that the pot was placed on during frring. Evidence indicates that they may have been stacked in the kiln base-to-neck, with the clay square separating them. Handles have sometimes one or more pin pricks at the top near the junction with the neck. This may be to facilitate the fiLLing ofa hinged pewter lid, or it may be a technique to prevent cracking or bursLing of the body at the join between the handle and the body, during the frring process.
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