Clay dishes from the 17th-18th c. found in the manor complex in Niegów near Wyszków. A note on the life standard of provincial gentry

Abstract

Emergency works conducted in 2005 in site 13 in Niegów near Wyszków revealed remains of outbuildings of a gentry manor that functioned between the mid-17th c. and the mid-18th c., 23,989 fragments of clay dishes were found. Most of the finds were grey and brick-red kitchenware, primarily pots. The percentage of
brown earthenware, produced according to the medieval tradition, was very low. The dishes classified to the three above-mentioned groups were made of easily accessible ferric clays and can be assumed to be of local origin. Most were wheel-thrown; few of brick-red pots were glazed. The most common forms, slim squat pots and jugs with cylindrical necks, have been frequently found in other sites in Mazovia and Podlasie dated to the 17th and 18th c. Noticeably, the range of forms was quite standard, with a small proportion of decorated
dishes. The repertoire of decorative motifs was not rich, aside from the grey dishes decorated by burnishing, whose style seems to have been characteristic of the workshop that supplied pottery to the Niegów manor. Another notable feature were stylized floral and animal motifs painted on red-brick plates. Imports were represented by glazed white pots, half-maiolica and half-faience plates and a few stoneware items.
A comparative analysis indicates that the finds reflect both the location of the site at the border of Mazovia and Podlasie and the fact that the site was the household facilities of a relatively affluent gentry manor. The style of the dishes suggests that they were supplied by a potter working on the estate or in one of the manor villages, who produced all of the kitchenware and most of the tableware needed for the manor.