Accession Number

1986.008.0704

Creation Date

circa 1620

Description

A round, shallow, cast iron griddle from the galleon Santa Margarita. Two ears protrude from opposing sides of the piece, and these were the attachment points for a wire bail handle. The griddle was designed to be suspended over a flame and used much as a skillet for cooking foods like meats and flat cakes.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023): 

Dining At Sea

Aboard Spanish ships, sailors ate with the six or eight men who were their messmates. Instead of having a single cook for the whole ship, as was common aboard other European vessels, one man would cook for each mess.

Common sailors and soldiers could expect six ounces of salt pork on the nineteen “meat days” each month, six ounces of dried cod on the nine “fish days,” and the same amount of cheese on the other days. They also got small measures of rice, chickpeas, and olive oil, as well as two pints of wine a day. If the ship were becalmed, they could sometimes vary their diet by catching fish. Usually, they were too busy and the ship was moving too quickly. The sturdy, tin-glazed dishes and bowls in this case are the type of inexpensive tableware that they would have used.

Passengers would often supplement the ship’s meager fare with supplies of their own. Animals, ranging from pigs to turtles, were carried on board to provide fresh meat, but any fruit or vegetables would go bad quickly, particularly in tropical waters.
Object Caption (2023):

Griddle
Iron (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.0704
Former Exhibition Label. Removed 2022.

Griddle
Recovered from the Santa Margarita
Iron, c. 1620
Gift of Jamestown Treasure Salvors Inc.
86.08.0704
This flat cooking dish appears to have been designed as a griddle, and would have served to prepare foods in a style somewhere between grilling and frying.