The Witch
Bottle from Renhold.
 |
BEDFM 8835.
Bellarmine Jug
17th Century.
From Renhold. Miss
A Henley.
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Walking under the trees and past the tall brick
building of the museum, you might be surprised at what you can find inside The
Higgins Bedford. Peeking out from behind the glass of the Curiosity Cabinet in
the Collectors’ Gallery sits an unassuming jug with a bearded face and round
belly.
Formally, he’s known as a Bartmann bottle but more
casually he’s named as a Bellarmine Jug. Stoneware characters like him were
made in Germany throughout the 16th and 17th Centuries.
They were first used to store drink and later
they were used to decant wine. However, somewhere within the 17th
Century they acquired a more unusual use.
At the height of a period of superstition and
paranoia, Bellarmine Jugs were employed as Witch Bottles. These were
counter-magical devices that were used to protect individuals and households
from unwanted spells and misfortune. They were often thought to trap and
imprison evil incantations inside.
Traditionally, a folk healer would prepare the bottle
by filling it with all sorts of ingredients. This could include a combination
of the victim’s urine, hair and nail clippings. This was then mixed with a
variety of rosemary, red wine, pins and needles, seawater, sand, thorns and
oil. It was thought that any evil doing was to be impaled by the sharp objects,
drowned by any liquids and sent away by the rosemary. After this, they were
buried under fireplaces or hidden away in walls – they’ve even been found
planted in the foundations of houses, thrown away in rivers and stashed in
attics. For the spell to work fully, the bottle had to remain hidden and
unbroken.
Our Bellarmine Jug is part of the Bedford Modern
School Collection and was found in Renhold by Miss A Henley in March 1940.
Which begs the question, why was this curious bottle buried here, in
Bedfordshire?
Come back soon for more or pop down to The Higgins to unlock more
tales from other mysterious objects.
Written by Curatorial Volunteer Bronte
Ends on 23rd September 2018
