Page 155 - Loss of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia, 1629

COOKING W ARES -EARTHENW ARE-REDW ARES
A variety of redwares were found on the site. Possibly much of this material was associated with the officers' and
passengers' area of the ship. The resolutions oCthe middle of the 17th century do not specifically mention earthenwares and most of the items are rather small for the needs of the cookhouse which would have to handle over 300 meals.
The items undoubtedly originate from kilns in the Low Countries and similar forms may be seen in Hurst et al. (1986) and Baart et al . (1977). The fabric is a fine, sandy-red colour, with glazes varying from a rich honey-brown to green. It is notewonhy that there are a large number of vessels with footrings rather than the more commonly encountered tripod leg. Also, it should be recorded that foolIings do not occur in the cooking pots or the pipkins illustrated in Hurst et al. (1986), nor in Baart et al. (1977). Additionally, there appears to bean unusual type not illustrated in the above-mentioned references, which has the form of a deep bowl with a footring. It is possible, at this time, that the Company was commissioning specialized forms from the potteries, although this would seem doubtful. More than likely, these forms were of particular use on board the ship, although less commonly encountered on land.
Cooking pots or tripod pipkin
Unfortunately, no complete examples of this type were found. As a result, it is uncertain if they are cooking pols,
which would have had two handles, or pipkins which would have had one bandle and a SPOUlIt is not certain either, if
these items had a footring or a tripod.
BAT 349
.
BAT 2290
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