Bellarmine jugs

During the July 2008 dig, the complete neck of a late seventeenth to eighteenth century Frechen Bartmann (FREC) jug was found. The name Frechen comes from the town Frechen, which is not far from Cologne in Rineland (western Germany) and Bartman meaning ” Bearded Man”.  The most common of Frechen Ware was the ‘Bellarmine’ or Bartman jug.

Beardman jugs (or jars) were produced during a period of about 200 years in the 16th-18th centuries. Until the 19th century the jars were also called maskarons. These names all refer to the decoration on the belly and neck of the jugs. Sometimes the jugs are referred to by place of origin: eg as ‘Rheinisches Steingut’ (Rhineland stoneware), ‘Rhenish ware’, or ‘Cologne goods’.

Bellarmine is a famous name for these jugs – presumably after Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621), an Italian cardinal and saint who set out to bring the Protestant religion.  Pope Pius XI canonized him in 1930 and declared him a Doctor of the Church the following year, but had arguably been immortalized meanwhile in bearded, pot-bellied jugs.

However, bottles with a beard face had been made for centuries before the life of Cardinal Bellarmine. Drinking jugs with faces were not uncommon in the Cologne potteries of Roman times, when the face is believed to have represented the Horned God. The Rhineland people used a beard face, with different features, as a trademark. True beardman jugs were produced from the 12th century onwards. True stoneware was first produced in Europe towards the end of the C14th, and salt glazing seems to have started at about the same time.

The main production centres were along the river Rhine, in the area around Cologne. Many of the Bellarmine jars were exported. The Rhineland has excellent trade connections via its large rivers. Cologne was a significant trade centre, and pottery was shipped down the Rhine to Dordrecht, and thence to England and other parts of Holland.

Shipwreck evidence shows that many European ships of the C17th, and especially Dutch ships, carried a number of beardman jugs for liquid storage. Curiously, apart from jugs for a special purpose such as the transport of commercial quantities of mercury, they are rarely referred to in the historical records, which include very detailed lists of not only cargo but also of galley equipment, and inventories of personal possessions of those deceased.

Production of beardman jugs
Beardman jugs are stoneware: water-resistant and durable, made from dense opaque non-porous clay fired at temperatures of 1200°-1280° C (2191°-2336° F). The clay turns white, buff, gray, or red and is glazed for aesthetic reasons.

Jug bodies were made on a potter’s wheel. After that the handle was fitted. Relief decorations including the beard face were prepared separately in moulds. The moulds were usually short-lived, especially those for the beard face; sometimes they were used for only a few jugs each, which results in the many different figures shown.

The salt glaze characteristic of a a beardman jug was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during firing. The salt (sodium chloride) disassociates into its constituents, and the sodium interacts with the silicon and aluminium in the clay to form a thin glaze which often has a slightly pitted surface which potters call ‘orange peel’.

Colour is added to stoneware by dipping in a slip (liquid clay) before firing. A mottled brown is characteristic of Cologne ware, and earned it the name ‘tigerware’ in England: this was produced by ferrous oxides in the slip. Blue and purple wares were first developed at Raeren from c.1587: the blue colour came from cobalt, and purple from manganese. Siegburg wares are usually off-white. The lower part of jugs is usually colourless (apart from drips), because the artisan had to hold the jug while dipping it in the slip.

During the 16th and 17th centuries Bellarmine jugs were used as witch-bottles. The witch bottle is a very old spell device. Its purpose is to draw in and trap evil and negative energy directed at its owner. Folk magic contends that the witch bottle protects against evil spirits and magical attack, and counteracts spells cast by witches. A witch, cunning man or woman, would prepare the witch’s bottle. Historically, the witch’s bottle contained the victim’s (the person who believed they had a spell put on them, for example) urine, hair or nail clippings, or red thread from sprite traps. In recent years, the witch’s bottle has taken on a nicer tone, filled with rosemary, needles and pins, and red wine. The bottle is then buried at the farthest corner of the property, beneath the house hearth, or placed in an inconspicuous spot in the house. It is believed that after being buried, the bottle captures evil which is impaled on the pins and needles, drowned by the wine, and sent away by the rosemary.