Accession Number

1986.008.0837

Alternate object names

Pan;Frying Pan;Sauce Pan

Creation Date

circa 1620

Description

A skillet or frying pan has a long tapering handle that opens to a wide, shallow, everted pan. Cooking on galleons was done with an open flame, and the long handle would have allowed the user to move and shake the pan without having to put a hand near the fire. The handle is stamped with an “M,” likely the maker’s mark.

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):

Skillet
Iron (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.0837, 1986.008.3329a