Accession Number

1986.008.0850

Alternate object names

Botija

Creation Date

circa 1620

Description

A small, 27 centimeter tall, olive jar (botija) from the wreck of the 1622 galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. many types of olive jars were found on the shipwreck, but this example is the smallest. Many examples of larger olive jars were found on the shipwreck, and they are thought to have generally carried wine. It is not clear if this small example was designed for a specific purpose or particular contents.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

COUNTING CARGO

Jacopo de Vreder was the silver master aboard the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. It was his job to make certain that the cargo was accurately accounted for, royal duties on it were collected, and that everything, including the passengers and the goods that they were transporting, was safely stowed. His written manifest traveled with the ship, but a copy would sail aboard another vessel, so that his record would get to Spain, even if his ship did not.

De Vreder recorded the silver bars individually and stamped each one with his initial, “V.” Other cargoes were listed by weight.

The inventory included:
Silver Bars – 1038, 30 tons, about 70lbs each
Silver Coins – about 200,000, loaded in chests
Gold Bars, Bits and Discs – 161, with a total weight of 3,462 oz.
Copper Ingots – 582, totaling 15 tons
Silverware – 1,200 lbs.
Tobacco – 525 bales, about 25 tons
Indigo – 350 chests
Object Caption (2023):

Jar
Earthenware (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.0850

Small jars like this one might be used for medicines, such as quinine. In the 1570s, a Jesuit priest who lived in Lima and was also an apothecary noticed Indigenous people using cinchona bark as a cure for malaria and sent some to the Vatican for testing. It soon became one of the most valuable cargoes.
Previous Exhibit Case Caption: Removed 2022. Small Olive Jars Recovered from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha Earthenware, c. 1620 Gift of Jamestown Treasure Salvors, Inc. 86.08.0850, 86.08.0852, 86.08.0891 Smaller earthenware jars were less common, and carried more costly products such as special oils and honey.