Carry and measure in the same container
Two pitchers, two documented capabilities.
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The inventory of the Museum distinguishes two pieces of zinc foil: the cantaro L 16, Pedraça, 12, and the cantara L 62, Devesa, Basto, with seven. Both measured and transported wine.
The capabilities belong to these objects, not to a universal measure. Comparing them shows why the name of a container is not enough to know how much it takes.
The dimensions add a surprise: the 12 liter cantaro is 46 cm high and 16,7 in diameter; the seven-litre cantara is lower, with 34,5 cm, but it is 23,3 in diameter. A larger width does not in itself mean more capacity.
The inventory associates the first piece to Fátima Magalhães, from Pedraça, and the second to Álvaro Magalhães, from Devesa. They are registered owners, not an attribution of authorship. These names help connect the objects to the people who kept them.
Name doesn't say full capacity
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Cantara L19: five litres of brandy
A cantara to measure brandy →Almude L023: 28 litres
One almude, two colors in memory →From the middle to the canada of olive oil
How much was in a quarter? →
Source and context
Basto Land Museum — Latoaria, Teresa Soeiro text and inventory of pieces
Accessed: . Editorial summary; the date of consultation is not the date of the facts.