Pedarra

Pedarra, pegarra, Vizcayan jug or kantarue is a type of jug used in the Basque Country for carrying water.^{[note 1]}^[1] It is characterized by a shape different from any other jug in the Iberian Peninsula but similar to the French cruche.

In the Spanish and French Basque-Navarre region, its production has been traced in pottery workshops in the French Basque Country, Biarritz, St-Jean-le-Vieux, Amorebieta, Durango, Villarreal de Álava (Elosu, Ollerieta neighborhood), Sola and Santesteban.^[2]

Description

Vessel made of clay, flat, with a capacity of up to 15 L (3.3 imp gal; 4.0 US gal); about 8 cm (3.1 in) wide at the mouth, 16 cm (6.3 in) at the base, and about 25 cm (9.8 in) at the belly.^[3] Like many jugs, it has a lateral handle (gider), wide and slightly raised in the shape of a ribbon, and a long spout (tutu) on the opposite side.^[4]

Designed for the head

The key to the morphological originality of the Vizcayan jug lies in the fact that it was designed to be carried on the head (a common practice not only in Spain but worldwide). The task is facilitated by the “buruti,” a cushion or cloth placed on the head to fit the jug.^[5]

Terminology

The root of the Castilian word jug originated the term kantarue, common throughout Biscay. However, the rural Basque language and its neighboring Navarrese and Gascons have produced numerous dialectal endemisms:

"Pedarra" in the upper course of the Bidasoa river: Santesteban and Vera de Bidasoa.
"Pegas" in Biarritz.
"Pedarra," "pegarra," or "pearra" in Sare, northern Navarre, the French Basque Country, and surrounding areas.^{[note 2]}
In the Landes, further north of the area where the name "poega" appears, they call it "banoe."
"Ourse" in the eastern French Basque Country. In Poyastruc and Lahitte-Toupière, important pottery centers where the vessels were not turned on a wheel but coiled.^{[note 3]}
In Gascony, in addition to "durno," it is known by the Gascon term "terras".
Other collected terms are pedar, pear or pegar.^[6]

Types

Depending on the production area, the pedarra appears as a piece of the popular white earthenware of the North or unglazed. Those from Biscay, Gipuzkoa, and areas of Álava were usually glazed inside and out with the traditional tin glaze, or with half exterior glazing (bib). When tin became scarce and its price soared, they began glazing them, allowing the clay's color to show through.^{[citation needed]}

In the French Basque Country and the rest of the cited areas, the jugs were unglazed. There were decorated models in the valley of the Ariège and in Lahitte-Toupière (just a few strokes of slip).^{[citation needed]}

Jug races

In the chapter of Spanish folkloric traditions, the custom of holding jug races on the head during festivals has been recorded. This practice also exists in this geographical area, with photographic documentation from Amorebieta (Zornotza),^[7] in Ibarra and in Rentería. On the French side, Roland Coquerel records this custom in Pouyastruc.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ José Pérez Vidal La cerámica popular española, p. 36-37.
^ Kultura, Gazteria eta Kirol Departamentua (ed.). "La pedarra". Retrieved 29 June 2012.
^ José Miguel de Barandiarán, in «Bosquejo Etnográfico de Sara» Anuario de Eusko Folklore, volume XXI, (1965-66), page 110. Also in: José Miguel de Barandiarán, Bosquejo etnográfico de Sara (volume 3 of the Sara collection); (2000). "Fundación José Miguel de Barandiarán" ISBN 978-84-931523-0-7
^ "La pedarra". bertan.gipuzkoakultura.net. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
^ See entry in external links: Valoria la Buena Jug Museum.
^ Julio Caro De la vida rural vasca, p. 91.
^ Jug race in Amorebieta in 1931. Photo-report by the ABC de Sevilla newspaper.

Notes

^ Ethnologists like Aranzadi or Caro Baroja report that in the Basque Country, the most commonly used container for transporting and storing water has been the herrada (suguilla, subilla or sulak), a wooden bucket with brass or copper hoops.
^ As in the south of the Landes, according to the Atlas Lingüistique de la Gascogne by Jean Seguy. Further east, according to this atlas, it is called "durno."
^ Roland Coquerel studied a jug slightly smaller than the "ourse," but classifiable within this family and called "péaderates," although with the handle on the mouth. It was made in Lahitte-Toupière, where the last firing of vessels took place in 1926 (Bulletin of the Société Ramond Bagnères de Bigorre, 1969).

Bibliography

Seseña, Natacha (1997). Cacharrería popular. La alfarería de basto en España. Madrid, Alianza Editorial. ISBN 84-206-4255-X.
Caro Baroja, Julio. De la vida rural vasca. Txertoa. ISBN 84-7148-016-6.
Pérez Vidal, José (1983). La cerámica popular española. Zona Norte. Cadernos de Olaria, Barcelos.

External links

Pedarra from Amorebieta (Biscay) in the Jug Museum (Valoria la Buena, Valladolid, Spain)

[Pérez_1-2] José Pérez Vidal La cerámica popular española, p. 36-37.

[3] Kultura, Gazteria eta Kirol Departamentua (ed.). "La pedarra". Retrieved 29 June 2012.

[4] José Miguel de Barandiarán, in «Bosquejo Etnográfico de Sara» Anuario de Eusko Folklore, volume XXI, (1965-66), page 110. Also in: José Miguel de Barandiarán, Bosquejo etnográfico de Sara (volume 3 of the Sara collection); (2000). "Fundación José Miguel de Barandiarán" ISBN 978-84-931523-0-7

[5] "La pedarra". bertan.gipuzkoakultura.net. Retrieved 2024-10-08.

[6] See entry in external links: Valoria la Buena Jug Museum.

[9] Julio Caro De la vida rural vasca, p. 91.

[10] Jug race in Amorebieta in 1931. Photo-report by the ABC de Sevilla newspaper.

[1] Ethnologists like Aranzadi or Caro Baroja report that in the Basque Country, the most commonly used container for transporting and storing water has been the herrada (suguilla, subilla or sulak), a wooden bucket with brass or copper hoops.

[7] As in the south of the Landes, according to the Atlas Lingüistique de la Gascogne by Jean Seguy. Further east, according to this atlas, it is called "durno."

[8] Roland Coquerel studied a jug slightly smaller than the "ourse," but classifiable within this family and called "péaderates," although with the handle on the mouth. It was made in Lahitte-Toupière, where the last firing of vessels took place in 1926 (Bulletin of the Société Ramond Bagnères de Bigorre, 1969).

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