15th-century Gothic mortar.
Bronze.
Measurements: 8 x 9.5 cm.
This Spanish mortar, dating from the 15th century, is entirely made of bronze, a resistant and stable material, very appropriate for the manufacture of this type of utensil. It is bell-shaped, narrower towards the mouth, with prominent ribs in the middle.
Ancient recipe books contain a large number of recipes based on the use of the mortar, a tool which, although rarely used today, was so varied in its use in the past that every kitchen had a wide variety of them, from large ones for pounding meat and vegetables to smaller ones for grinding spices. Even in antiquity, there were large mortars made of bronze for crushing and mixing marble or lime, which were used to make construction binders or plaster, such as stucco. The Roman poet Juvenal mentioned it in articles for the preparation of drugs, reflecting the early use of this instrument in apothecaries. The antiquity of mortars is also well documented in some works of ancient literature, such as the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, dating from 1550 BC, which is considered one of the oldest documents on medicine in Ancient Egypt. It is also mentioned in the Old Testament. Good mortars must be heavy or made of strong materials to withstand prolonged pounding and thus reduce the substances to powder. The mortar must not be brittle, as it would break during the pulverising operation. The material must also be cohesive so that its surface does not wear away and mix with the ingredients.