[Sca-cooks] costrels
Stefan li Rous
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Tue Apr 22 19:19:42 PDT 2008
Huette replied to me with:
<<<
> I am curious though, what type of pot *is* a "mammiform costrel"?
>
> Stefan
A costrel is a period form of a canteen. It is usually made out of
clay because clay
helps keep the inside liquid, be it water, wine or something else,
cool.>>>
I assume that the cooling is simply through the thermal mass of the
clay. I thought at first it might have been through evaporative
cooling through unglazed clay, but both Hroar's and the archeological
finds are glazed.
<<< This particular
costrel is flat on one side so that will fit better against your
body, as costrels are
intended to be carried on one's belt. >>>
Unfortunately, it's hard to see that one side is flattened in any of
the photos.
<<< The other side is rounded, much more rounded that
the other costrels and apparently someone somewhere thought that they
looked rather
breast-like, hense the word "mammiform". >>>
I was wondering about that when I saw the name. Lol. You can
definitely see the relationship when considering where the spout is
and thinking of someone having to tilt it up to drink out of it.
<<< Here is a picture of how Hroar's reproduction looks:
http://www.griffindyeworks.com/store/index.php?
main_page=product_info&cPath=50_55&products_id=296
>>>
Thanks for the references. This gives another option for people
looking for period containers for carrying water or drinks, besides
leather or horn flasks.
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
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