Feminine potteries in La Mancha

Cantareras from La Mota

Abstract

Women potters have been invisible throughout history and their work has always been subject to the orders of their husbands, who have generally controlled the economic activity derived from clay. The jug makers (“cantareras”) from Mota del Cuervo (Cuenca, Spain) are an example of this in the territory of La Mancha. Their work with clay was considered more as another of the household chores associated with women and less as a professional activity. And yet, they ingeniously developed a wide variety of pottery used to resolve some of those domestic chores connected to their gender, thus becoming representative of their society.