221 – Witch bottle: Bellarmine Jar
- Physical description:
- 17th century brown-glazed jar with a face on the side, of the type known as a Bellarmine jar; used as a witch bottle - i.e. a charm to reverse an attack by witchcraft.
- Museum classification:
- Curses
- Size:
- 150mm
- Information:
A pitcher type jar with bearded man's face - when found this jar was fitted with a wood bung stopper and sealed with wax. When opened it contained some stinking black liquid and a quantity of sludge. This mess was originally human hair and urine. Found concealed in a table tomb close to Exeter cathedral, 1950. (From original text by Cecil Williamson.)
Judging by its construction and materials, this may be early-mid twentieth century, and its concealment part of a ‘rediscovery’ of folk magic practice in the modern world.
This was on loan to the Ashmolean Museum for their Spellbound exhibition, 6 September 2018 - 6 January 2019
See also MWM id no 14.
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Ceramic
- Copyright ownership:
- Copyright to The Museum of Witchcraft Ltd.
A pitcher type jar with bearded man's face - when found this jar was fitted with a wood bung stopper and sealed with wax. When opened it contained some stinking black liquid and a quantity of sludge. This mess was originally human hair and urine. Found concealed in a table tomb close to Exeter cathedral, 1950. (From original text by Cecil Williamson.)
Judging by its construction and materials, this may be early-mid twentieth century, and its concealment part of a ‘rediscovery’ of folk magic practice in the modern world.
This was on loan to the Ashmolean Museum for their Spellbound exhibition, 6 September 2018 - 6 January 2019
See also MWM id no 14.