Accession Number

1986.008.2930

Alternate object names

Gridiron;Pot Holder

Creation Date

circa 1622

Description

A wrought-iron gridiron was used in the cooking and serving of food on the 1622 galleon Santa Margarita. The piece was bent and folded on itself as the galleon was shipwrecked. A gridiron was a grate used for grilling or broiling: The grate could be placed over hot coals or next to a fire to cook food, especially meats and fish. The four-legged gridiron could also serve as a trivet to set hot pots and pans on, to keep them from damaging tables, counters, or decks. The Margarita gridiron grate is made of flat, one-centimeter-wide bars, 26.2 centimeters long.

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):

Trivet
Reconstruction
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.2930

A trivet was a grate used for grilling or broiling. It could be placed over hot coals or next to a fire to cook food, especially meats and fish.
Former Exhibition Label. Removed 2022.

Trivet 
Recovered from the Santa Margarita
Resin-cast from original concretion, c.1620
Gift of Jamestown Treasure Salvors Inc. 
86.08.2930

When a pot or pan came out of the fire it had to set down on something without burning the table or deck. This crushed and bent pot rest did just that.