8. Serving¶
8.1. Utility materials¶
Some materials were financially reachable only to selected social classes.
- Lower social class
- Wood: Carved. Turned.
- Ceramics: Unglazed and glazed, no painted decors.
- Middle social class - townsfolk
- Wood: Turned. Veneer. Decorated.
- Ceramics: Glazed, unpainted and painted decors.
- Metal: Silver, brass.
- High social class - nobility and royalty
- Wood
- Metal: Silver. Brass. Gilded copper. Gold.
- Glass: Painted, gilded.
- Ceramics: Lustreware. Stoneware.
According to [ELUM] , the most used material for dining utensils were, in order, wood (64%), ceramics (23%, 14% varnished, 9% decorated), metal (12%), glass (1%). See the accompanying graph Fig. 11.88.
There are different shapes of ceramics for serving meals. According to the typology of Guillermo Roselló, Fig. 11.89, these are: [GRRL]
- JARRITA: For drinking or pouring liquids.
- JARRITA CON FILTRO: With filter to purify the content.
- ATAIFOR: Serving dish with an extremely varied shapes.
- JOFAINA: Serving dish, generally a reduction of the ataifor.
- TAZA: Drinking cup with or without handles.
- JARRO: Useful for pouring liquids. They have a handle and a pouring spout.
- REDOMA: Small size pouring vessel with handle.
- TAPADERA: Covering element.
- CAZUELA: Container applicable to fire with low walls and wide mouth, handles or holding stubs.
8.2. Table composition¶
Each guest got his own bread bun and sticks put directly on the table linen. [CSMT] cantiga 132-5 Fig. 11.79.
Pieces of bread were used to dip sauces and as a side dish or support for individual knife carved pieces of meats.
Usually two guests shared one goblet called ‘FIXME’ and one serving bowl of food in container called jofaina or ataifor ‘FIXME add example’, sometimes with covering lid called tapadera ‘FIXME add example from ortega’. Each serving bowl with uncut meat had its serving knife ‘FIXME all serving knives graphics’.
Goblet was refilled using small volume jug called redoma ‘FIXME add redoma example’ or larger volume jarro ‘FIXME add jarro example’.
Wet food was served in ataifors. Some specific sauces / dips were served from special plates called salserias, they had inbuilt small bowl in the center ‘FIXME add salseria example from ortega’.
There was wide range of drinking vessels, small cups, cups with one or more handles called tazas or jarritas, wide funnel-like cups for low cost sparkling wine and goblets.
In gambling den scenes each guest has his own cup in hand. There is no shared table apart from gaming desk. ‘FIXME add cups examples’
8.3. Table and feast depictions¶
CSM, LJ, LAMG?, Maqqamat al Hariri, others?
8.4. Standing or sitting? Benches, seats, chairs, pillows.¶
8.5. Table and tray stand¶
Antic Roman habit of dining while lying down on sofas was replaced by Christian habit sitting at the table, following the example of the last dinner of Jesus Christ.
Chair with back rest was reserved for houselord, chairs without back rest and benches for other family members and servants.
Jewish Rylands haggadah Barcelona depict Passover feasting while sitting behind the table. Fig. 11.17.
Using furniture like table was in conflict with Nomadic lifestyle intended to prevent Muslim civilization becoming soft, according to 14c andalusian sage Ibn Khaldun.
Muslim dining was done cross-legged sitting on ground, pillows or divans with tray stand supporting large tray. Depiction of such tray stand and tray can be seen multiple times in [MQAH] Fig. 11.21. Extant 13/14c brass tray stands from Egypt and Syria can be found in Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example Fig. 11.112. Example of extant 77cm diameter brass tray can be seen in Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example Fig. 11.113.
Decoration of muslim dishes and vessels reflect the sitting position above the tray and looking down at the table.
8.6. Table cloth¶
According to [HREM] the Treatise of Walter of Bibbesworth describes, that old worn table linen is better than a dirty, new one. This means table cloths were frequently washed and bleached to keep them clean. Items designed for frequent washing weren’t usually dyed and this is the reason that most depicted tablecloths are either plain or used geometric decoration patterns that can either be printed or stand out as relief.
[CSMT] contains 8 depictions of plain table cloths in cantiga 004-3 Fig. 11.97, 023-3 Fig. 11.98, 045a-4 Fig. 11.99, 052-3 Fig. 11.100, 067-5-6 Fig. 11.101, 084-3 Fig. 11.102, 085b-2 Fig. 11.103, 088-1-3 Fig. 11.104.
Cantiga 42-4 contains dotted pattern Fig. 11.105 . Checked pattern can be seen at 95a-4 Fig. 11.106, 132-5 Fig. 11.107, 175a-1 Fig. 11.108.
Diamond pattern is drawn at 119-1 Fig. 11.109, and 159-3 Fig. 11.110.
[CSMF] contains two checked pattern table cloth depictions in cantiga 245-1 Fig. 11.94 and 318-6 Fig. 11.95, and one plain table cloth in 269-5 Fig. 11.96.
For comparison, apothecary serving desk textile cover contains rich colorful decorations 108-1 Fig. 11.111. They were not expected to get stained as often as dining table linen.
8.7. Towel¶
According to [SP] 2-7-5, washing hands was done before and after meals and wet hands were dried with towels.
Teruel ceiling tabicas 0305 depicts a dog holding towel and perfume. Fig. 11.90. [CSMF] cantiga 315-5 displays towel decorated with red lines Fig. 11.91. Similar towels are depicted in 1220 Bible Moralisée Fig. 11.92, and 1355 Florence BNCF Banco Rari 45 Fig. 11.93.
Towel decorated with checked pattern is depicted for muslim feast in [MQAH] Fig. 11.21.
8.8. Spoon¶
Spoons are mostly visible during healthcare and hospital scenes in [CSMT], cantigas 67-1 Fig. 11.67, 81-6 Fig. 11.68, 166-1 Fig. 11.69, 188-2 Fig. 11.70.
Extant French silver spoon from ~1350s can be seen in V&A Museum: Fig. 11.71.
8.9. Knife¶
Knives depicted in [CSMT] associated with eating occasions:
004-3 Fig. 11.72, 023-3 Fig. 11.73, 023-6 Fig. 11.37, 042-4 Fig. 11.74, 045-4 Fig. 11.75, 052-3 Fig. 11.76, 067-5 Fig. 11.77, 067-6 Fig. 11.2, 085b-2 Fig. 11.78, 088-2 Fig. 11.3, 088-4 Fig. 11.4, 132-5 Fig. 11.79, 159-3 Fig. 11.47, 161-3 Fig. 11.82.
Extant knife handle from 10th century Cordoba al-Andalus can be seen at David Collection Fig. 11.84, Fig. 11.85.
Extant French or Spanish knife from 14th century is present at Metropolitan Museum of Art Fig. 11.86, Fig. 11.87.
8.10. Dining Fork¶
Ancient Greeks from Sybaris are credited with invention of dining forks several centuries B.C. [CASE] Roman era bronze forks can be seen in Museo provinciale di Torcello Fig. 11.114. Multi purpose knife, spoon and fork from 1-3c AD Fig. 11.115.
Usage of two pronged forks was common in Byzantine empire since 4th century AD and throughout middle-ages. [JTAI]
Since 9th century the forks appeared in Persia [WAMF]. Bronze persian forks from 9th century can be found at Musée du Louvre Fig. 11.65.
The Byzantine habit of using forks for eating was exported over Europe through royal weddings.
In the miniature of the Langobard Laws Code of the Cava monastery, an image of King Rotari appears, cleaning a fish using a knife and a kind of fork. [LDFF]
Byzantine princess Theophano Skleros, the wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, introduced table fork at a banquet she hosted in 972 CE. Theophano’s arrival on the Rhine created quite a stir. Dressed in silks, she insisted on bathing daily, was quite literate, and most upsetting of all, she used a fork. Chronographers mention the astonishment she caused when she “used a golden double prong to bring food to her mouth” instead of using her hands as was the norm. [LDFF]
The Byzantine princess Maria Argyropoulina brought golden two-pronged forks to Venice, when she married Giovanni Orseolo II, the son of the Doge in 1004. [AMFB]
St. Peter Damian in his work “De institutione monialis” describes the appearance of the fork in 1071, on the occasion of the marriage of Venetian Doge Domenico Selvo, with Teodora Anna Doukaina, another Byzantine princess, sister of Emperor Michael VII. [LDFF]
In Italy the fork became fully established and replaced the wooden pitchfork that had been used until then, as the latter only had two teeth and the three teeth of the fork proved to be more practical, especially when eating noodles, spaghetti and lasagna. However, it was a rather personal object, to the point that at banquets each guest was expected to bring his own. In fact, it became popular to carry it in a little box called chain along with the spoon, and that custom traveled to France, once again on the occasion of a wedding. [HBSE]
An eleventh-century manuscript Rabanus Maurus “De Universo”, now in the Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, Montecassino, depicts two men at a table, using two-pronged forks to assist in carving and eating. Fig. 11.83
Another, solitary fork appears in one of the miniatures of the work “Hortus deliciarum” (12th century) by Abbess Herrad of Hohenbourg, preserved in London [LDFF].
Other forks appeared in the princely dowries also in the following centuries, with handles of ivory, crystal and hard stone. The fork was used to emphasize, even at the table, the division between Guelphs and Ghibellines: the former placed it on the tablecloth, to the right of the plate, the latter preferred to arrange it horizontally in front of the crockery. [LDFF]
Silver byzantine fork example can be found at Cleveland museum Fig. 11.66
English queen Eleanor of Castile, sister of Alfonso X., had Byzantine ancestry as well.
During 1260-1290 in England, the queen Eleanor of Castile promoted the use of fine tableware, elegantly decorated knives, and even forks (though it remains uncertain whether the latter were used as personal eating utensils or as serving pieces from the common bowls or platters). [EST]
Crystal fork “Unum par cultellorum cum manicis argenti aymellat’ cum uno furchetto de cristallo” occur among the jocalia of the English royal wardrobe. These were a gift to Edward I. from Marie of Brittany, Countess of Saint Pol. [ARHR]
Fourteenth-century fork references become more frequent, but evidently refer almost exclusively to small forks for the purpose of eating fruit, especially blackberries, which is eaten with the fingers left them badly stained, or for serving sweetmeats or ginger. [METMF]
At the end of the fourteenth century the fork was already well known. Franco Sacchetti (1330-1400) remembered for “Il Trecentonovelle” in which he describes the society of his time, he briskly recounts the adventures at the table of a certain Noddo who “begins to munch macaroni, envelops and hunts down, and six mouthfuls already down, that Giovanni still had the first mouthful in the fork … “. The table casket of King Charles V of France in 1380 showed a fork in plain sight, perhaps to impress the more rustic foreign sovereigns. [LDFF]
The widespread acceptance of the fork as an eating utensil is definitely post-medieval. Introduced into France soon after 1553, when Catherine de Medici married the future Henry II, the fork was only really accepted in England in the seventeenth century. [METMF]
It seems that usage of forks as a dining utensil in Spanish environment was limited to royal environment and highest nobility during 13th and early 14th century.
8.11. Toothpick¶
8.12. Serving bowl¶
Malagan
Lustreware was a speciality of Islamic pottery, at least partly because the use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, [HDT1] with the result that pottery and glass were used for tableware by Muslim elites, when Christian medieval elites still normally used metal for both dishes and cups.
Andalusian Hispano-Moresque ware from Málaga was famous for its gold lustre on white enamel; it’s different from lustreware from Granada by the inclusion of blue paint with the gold lustre over a red clay that is characteristic of the region. An import from Malaga through Sandwich, Kent in England for the Spanish-born Queen Eleanor of Castile was recorded in 1289, consisting of “42 bowls, 10 dishes, and 4 earthenware jars of foreign colour (extranei coloris)”. [CSL] Malagan ware was also exported to the Islamic world, and has been found at Fustat (medieval Cairo), England, Germany, France. [JDM]
Valencia - Manises
In the early 14th century, under the reign of James I, the lordship of Manises was acquired by the Boil family. They introduced from Andalusia, especially Malaga, the savoir-faire of lusterware pottery. Manises ceramics of golden and blue lusterware prevailed throughout Europe until the late 16th century, being known in many places as “work of Valencia” or “Mallorca”, because of the origin of the seafarers who traded with it.
Much appreciated by the Aragonese crown, Manises pottery was also exported to France, Italy, and especially to Naples, where Alfonso the Magnanimous wanted to create a brilliant and luxurious court. As a major amateur of Paterna and Manises pottery, Naples influenced other Italian courts. Calixtus III and Alexander VI continually commissioned Valencian pieces and tiles for the halls of the Vatican. The export was also extended to Sicily, Venice, Turkey, Cyprus, and even to Flanders and the Baltic countries. The palaces of all the courts of Europe were enriched with Manises ceramics. Many painters reproduced it in their paintings; it can be observed in the work of Humberto and John Van Eyck, and in the central panel of a triptych by Hugo Van der Goes (Uffizi Gallery, Florence). In this city there are also some Domenico Ghirlandaio frescoes in which appears Moorish-Valencian faience. [WKMI]
A Catalunya es conserven alguns exemplars destacats a la collecció de ceràmica de la Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer de Vilanova i la Geltrú
Trullén, Josep Maria (dir). Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer. Guia de les Colleccions del Museu. Organisme Autònom BMVB, 2001, p.80. ISBN 84-931438-3-9.
8.13. Dish for meals¶
8.14. Drinking bowl (tea?)¶
8.15. Tray¶
8.16. Plate¶
8.17. Carafe¶
[CSMT] Cantiga 125-4. [LADT] ** todo … **
[BAWR]: * f01r - flask on footed table, f10r - flask and glass beaker. ** todo add images **
8.18. Bottle¶
8.19. Goblet and beaker¶
8.20. Salt cellar¶
8.21. Jug¶
8.22. Wineskin¶
Examples of large wineskins, in Morocco called guerbas, used for serving wine can be seen in [CSMT] cantigas 38-2 Fig. 11.26, 72-1 Fig. 11.27, 72-2 Fig. 11.28, 72-3 Fig. 11.29, 93-1 Fig. 11.30, 140-6 Fig. 11.31.
8.23. Funnel¶
Funnels were used to pour liquids into storage containers like wineskins. They could be made of wood, ceramics, bronze, glass. Either funnel or funnel-shaped drinking vessel might be depicted in [CSMT] 93-1 lying next to wineskin Fig. 11.30 .
According to profesor Miguel Gual, there are mentions of funnels in inventory of Toledo cathedral by date 1259-61, inventory of the church of San Pedro el Viejo de Huesca to date 1360 and others. [GUAL]