A series of drinking jugs of Raeren stoneware

At the end of the 15th century the manner in which food and drink were served at table in Exeter households, as in much of England, underwent great changes. An element in these changes was the adoption of individual drinking pots, replacing the medieval practices of communal drinking and the use of wooden cups. Much of the new demand for drinking pots was supplied by the importation of salt-glazed stonewares from Belgium and the Rhineland. The most important source of such wares throughout England was the potting town of Raeren in eastern Belgium. The vessels shown here with their light grey or bronze-brown surfaces and frilled feet, all excavated in Exeter, are typical Raeren wares of the years c. 1480-1550.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum Exeter Archaeology