Images(5)

D2008-CMD. Bottle, detail of arms medallion

Bartmann Jug

Dateca. 1610

OriginEurope, Germany, Frechen

MediumBrown salt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOverall: 7 5/8 x 6 3/8 x 6 1/4in. (19.4 x 16.2 x 15.9cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1982-84

DescriptionBartmann bottle: Globular shape with tapering neck molded at top and loop handle. Molded on the front of the neck is a mask of a bearded man and, on the belly, a seal bearing the arms of Juelich-Kleve-Berg in an oval. Orange and brown color on gray.Label TextAmong the more common coats of arms on Bartmann bottles found over a broad geographic range are those associated with the Dukes of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, rulers of Frechen. This example was recovered from the 1613 wreck of the Dutch ship Witte Leeuw [White Lion] in the South Atlantic off the coast of St. Helena and parallels shards of two Bartmann bottles with a variation of these arms excavated at the Martin’s Hundred site on the James River in Virginia.

ProvenanceRecovered from the 1613 wreck of the Dutch ship Witte Leeuw [White Lion] in the South Atlantic off the coast of St. Helena.
Purchased from D. S. Wills, F.R.I.C.S., Littlecote Estate Office, Nr. Hungerford, Berkshire, RG17 OSU, England