A Bellarmine Stoneware Jug c1675

Heading : A salt glaze Bellarmine jug
Date : Second half seventeenth century
Origin : Germany
Colour : Mottled brown
Body : Moulded bearded man “Bartmann” above a medallion. Applied applied handle. The string rim is to secure a cork
Size : 21cm tall and approximately 13cm in diameter at widest
Condition : A 1.5cm flake chip on the rim. Other dents and scratches
Restoration : The handle has been reattached
Weight : 872 grams

References : The Decanter. An Illustrated History of Glass By Andy McConell – Page 27 Plate 23.

Antique Sealed Bottles 1640-1900 By David Burton – Page 9.

A Bartmann “bearded man” jug also known as a Bellarmine in English . These were made in Germany and imported to Britain by Dutch merchants filled with hock wine. The medallions were often an armorial or family crest or town insignia. This is akin to a sealed wine bottle in that regard. These became sturdy domestic and business like vessels. used for serving wine and beer in British taverns and also within the domestic context.

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine was a notable catholic reactionary to the protestant reformation in the the Spanish Netherlands.  One can only suppose that these jugs were used as a jibe perhaps by protestants in northern Europe. The jugs were made for a century or more before Bellarmine died in 1621.

Such was the demand for such vessels that John Dwight began producing almost identical designs at the Fulham pottery in c1670.