Henrietta Marie Bellarmine Jug 86.08.653

sketchfab

A small, incomplete stoneware jar, 10.2 centimeters wide and 13.3 cm tall, comes from the 1700 English slave ship Henrietta Marie. The jar bears the likeness of a bearded man thought to be a caricature of the prominent Catholic theologian Roberto Bellarmino. Such jars often held liquor and were used by Protestants to mock Bellarmino’s anti-alcohol stance. Bellarmine jugs also occasionally served as “witch bottles,” filled with magical charms and urine as anti-witchcraft devices. No contents were found in the Henrietta Marie jar, and Its function remains unknown.