Bartmann or Bellarmine Jug c1675

Description

Heading : Bartmann or Bellarmine jug
Date : 1650-1700
Origin : Germany or The Netherlands
Colour : Mottled brown
Body : Moulded bearded face (the ‘bartmann’ of the name) above a medallion featuring ears of wheat; applied handle. Strung rim in order to secure a cork
Size : 20.2 cm tall; 13.4 cm diameter at widest point
Condition : Some chips and unglazed patches. entirely to be expected.
Restoration : none
Weight : 882 grams

References : The Decanter. An Illustrated History of Glass (Andy McConnell 2018) pp 37. 44 etc

A Bartmann “bearded man” jug. also known as a Bellarmine in English. These were originally made in Germany and exported to Britain. filled with hock wine.  by Dutch merchants. The medallions were often an armorial. family crest or town insignia – akin to a sealed wine bottle in that regard. Having fulfilled their role as transit container. they would readily devolve to domestic use. or as serving vessels in taverns. 

The alternative name of Bellarmine was first applied by Dutch Protestants. who sought to ridicule Cardinal Robert Bellarmine – a stout. bearded individual. and implacable opponent of theirs during the reformation; later examples were made – specifically – to resemble Bellarmine. as can be discerned from the 1651 description of just such a vessel bearing a ‘proud. ambitious head – idol large. with beard episcopal’. Bellarmine’s name has become enshrined as a generic term for a particular jug in the same way that his close contemporary Louis Bourdaloue found himself forever associated with the early porcelain iteration of what would today be known as She-Wees !

Such was the demand for such vessels that a gentleman by the name of John Dwight began producing almost identical designs at his pottery in Fulham pottery around 1670. entirely for use in the domestic marketplace. Dwight adopted the use of the medallions on the originals for the production of early ‘branded goods’ for taverns who bought from him. the applied decorations being made to represent the relevant pub signage…