Merida no more: Portuguese redware in Newfoundland

• Main Author: Newstead, Sarah
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2008
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/9233/; https://research.library.mun.ca/9233/1/Newstead_Sarah.pdf

This thesis presents a discussion of Portuguese Redware, formally known as "Merida-type ware", in late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century archaeological contexts in Newfoundland. A full review of English- and Portuguese-language literature regarding the ware begins the discussion. Portuguese Redware is then defined and production areas in Portugal for the ware are outlined. Samples from several collections, from English and French in Newfoundland are examined and a vessel form typology is presented that is applicable to Portuguese Redware in Newfoundland. The likely production provenance for the Newfoundland samples, the Aveiro region and, to a lesser degree, Lisbon, is discussed. The Portuguese Redware fabrics occurring in Newfoundland are also described. Possible export forms are discussed, such as the Portuguese Redware olive jar, as well as the differences in Portuguese Redware occurrence between sites. A preliminary trace element examination by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry of 28 Portuguese Redware sherds from Casa do Infante, Porto and Ferryland, St. John's and Placentia in Newfoundland is presented. The thesis concludes with a discussion of factors that drove the consumption of Portuguese Redware by the English and French maritime community associated with Newfoundland in the seventeenth century. These factors include trade connections between the Newfoundland cod fishery and Portuguese markets and the maritime communities' place at the cusp of the consumer revolution in the early modern period.