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Village decor Clay Water Pitcher with lid (2 Liter Clay Water jug)

£9.9£99Clearance
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Tests were undertaken using replica medieval jugs with convex bottoms. When filled with liquids, these jugs were stable when placed on a table and did not roll about as had been previously assumed. Additionally, the fact that these jugs had rounded bottoms meant that they could be tilted whilst on the table and their contents poured into drinking containers without having to lift the heavy jugs. Yet botijos have become a relic of the past. They were handy in old rural Spain, where people worked the fields under a scorching sun and houses did not have electricity. But today, there are fewer farmers than ever, and it’s hard to find a house without a refrigerator. Why would someone drink from a heavy clay jug when they can comfortably use a glass? Orellana stands in his workshop, next to a drawing of his father, who was also a potter. Ignacio Amigo

Although you can find them in many different shapes and colors, most botijos share a few features: round, with a handle on top and two holes, one on each side. One of the holes is wide, and used to fill the jug. The other one is at the end of a spout. When drinkers heft the jug into the air, it pours a thin stream of water into their mouths. (Touching the spout with your lips is taboo.) The botijo Argárico de Beniaján is the oldest such jug found in Spain so far. Public Domain H. E. Jean Le Patourel, 'Documentary evidence and the medieval pottery industry', Medieval Archaeology, XII (1968), pp.101-26 All of our water jugs are hand decorated using our time-honoured tissue transfer printing method. We use engraved copper rollers to print the design onto fine tissue paper, then apply the decoration to the ceramics by hand. It's this method that allows us to decorate all of our complex handle shapes with such accuracy.Copper Jugs: Copper jugs are jugs made from copper or copper alloys like brass. They often have a distinctive warm, reddish-brown color and a shiny surface. Copper jugs can feature decorative engravings, embossed designs, or handles made from other materials like wood or bone. They were commonly used for serving and storing liquids. Pitchers: Pitchers, sometimes referred to as water jugs or milk jugs, are vessels with a handle and spout used for pouring liquids. Antique pitchers can be made from various materials like ceramic, glass, metal, or porcelain. They come in different shapes, sizes, and decorative styles, ranging from simple and utilitarian to ornate and decorative. Clay can also be used in jewelcrafting like any other stone or ore, allowing for an infinite source of materials for practicing cutting gems with. However, clay cannot be fired from a catapult, loaded into a stone-fall trap, or used in place of stone at a mason's workshop. Plus, they’re very collectible. There are a surprising number of botijo museums and collections across Spain. One of the latter can be found in Pampaneira, another village of the Alpujarra mountains, just a few miles uphill from Las Barreras. It was the pride and joy of José Martín Aragón, a local trader who passed away 20 years ago. Many of Martín’s botijos are more art than appliance. Ignacio Amigo

Beyond Spain, botijos have been held up as a solution for sustainably cooling water across the world. In 2014, two researchers identified regions where botijos could potentially be used. They considered four parameters: air humidity, average temperature, access to drinking water and the presence of clay. It turns out that there are large swaths of the planet meet all these conditions: most of Africa and Australia, large parts of Europe and Asia, and some regions of North and South America. Robert J. Charleston & D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Masterpieces of Western Ceramic Art, Vol. VII: English and Dutch Ceramics, Kodansha, 1978 Still, botijos hold a fascination for people across Spain. Part of it stems from a feeling of nostalgia. A rural exodus during the 60s and 70s swept Spaniards into cities. Many of today’s urban dwellers love the jugs as a reminder of the villages their parents and grandparents came from, where botijos were part of everyday life. Spaniards appreciate botijos as symbols of their roots, even if they use them only occasionally. D.H. Brown, Pottery in Medieval Southampton. Archaeology Monographs 8 / CBA Research Report 133. Council for British Archaeology, Oxford, 2002

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Silver Jugs: Silver jugs are jugs made from sterling silver or silver-plated metal. They can have a range of styles, including elegant and refined designs, often featuring intricate engravings, embossed patterns, or decorative handles. Silver jugs were highly valued for their craftsmanship and were used for serving beverages or as decorative objects. Jugs with applied slip and moulded decoration were characteristic of the pottery making centres in Normandy in the 13th century. Many of their products have been found in excavations in England, especially in and around port cities such as Southampton. Undoubtedly, this technique of ceramic decoration influenced the pottery-making centres in England. The collection now belongs to Martín’s children, who keep it in a large and dusty attic that is only opened on request. The attic is cluttered with botijos on tables, shelves, closets, and the floor. There’s just enough space to walk from one room to another. They estimate the collection has between 800 and 1,000 jugs.

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