Gender Relations in the Production and Consumption of Portuguese Pottery (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)

The extent of women’s roles in the production and consumption of Portuguese ceramic wares during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries is generally unknown. It is normally assumed that pottery production was an activity exclusively performed by men since they were, in fact, the main owners of the workshops. Nevertheless, women’s names tend to appear in many historical documents as potters, especially when their deceased husbands left them the business which they would go on to supervise for many years. This would suggest their role was more prominent than previously thought. If some women were responsible for the production of pottery, others can also be found as consumers, not only in Portugal but in other parts of the world, revealing them as avid and regular clients of these Portuguese commodities. Gender studies associated with Portuguese historical archaeology are still scarce, and this paper will present an initial approach to discussing the presence of women in Portuguese pottery studies.