Fabric: John Hurst has identified 3 Martincamp fabrics (Hurst et al. 1986: 103-104). Type 1 (1475-1550) has fine off-white fabric often with buff surfaces and a flattened profile. Type II (16th century) has a dark brown stoneware fabric and is more globular in form with one side slightly flattened and the other side mammiform with clear throwing rings and a central nipple. Type III (17th century) has an earthenware fabric which usually is a low-fired orange color but it can be fired to near-stoneware and appear reddish orange. It is rounder in form than Type II. All the flask fragments from Jamestown are Type III. They are slightly micaceous and have some quartz and hematite inclusions.(picture)

Glaze: Unglazed.

Form: Although other forms (globular pots, chamber pots, and costrels) have been identified with the same fabrics in France, the only form found in Virginia is a thinly-potted globular flask with a long tapering neck. The necks are plain or have slightly molded rims. The flask is wheel-thrown into a sphere. Once the sphere is leather-hard, the neck, which was thrown separately is applied over a crudely punched in one end. The flasks have ver pronounced throwing rings with diagonal pulling lines visible on the interior.


This ware is named after Martincamp, a village in northern France, situated between Dieppe and Beauvais. Recent research has indicated that this attribution may be too restrictive and that the ware may have been produced in a much wider area. To date, no great number of flasks has ever been found in Martincamp or identified as wasters of Martincamp (Ickowicz: 58). The flasks in this ware are often referred to as Normandy stoneware, which is a distinct ware (See Normandy Stoneware in this section).

Martincamp flasks must have been produced solely for export as they are rarely found in France but are very common on 16th and 17th-century sites in England where distribution clusters along the east coast and the eastern half of the southern coast. In London they are found most frequently in 17th-century contexts with the highest concentration c.1650 and 1700. No examples have been recognized in the Low Countries.

Martincamp flasks were seemingly exported empty to serve as canteens for field workers and soldiers (Allan 1984:42). Some of the flasks have been found contained within wicker covers just like the Italian glass flasks whose shape they mimic. The wicker covering on the flasks would provide a way for attaching a means of suspension so the vessel could be easily slung across a shoulder. In addition, a standing ring of wicker woven at the rounded base of the flask furnishes the means for the flask to stand upright thereby making it a costrel.

Sources
Sites
Jamestown Rediscovery: 447 sherds (as of 11/98) in early pits (1, 3, and 4), Bulwark Trench, South Palisade, Burial 2; as well as all the Ditches and Midden 1 which consist of mixed contexts.
Mathews Manor, Newport News, Virginia, 2nd quarter 17th century
The Second Church of Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, c. 1623-1698
St. Mary's City, Maryland: Pope's Fort, c. 1645-1650; St. John's House.1665-1685;Chapel, Maryland

Prepared by Bly Straube