Witch bottle from the 18th century

Above is an 18th century "witch bottle," used to fend off evil spirits. Discovered at a construction site in the London borough of Greenwich, this example is particularly rare because it's still corked. Retired chemistry professor Dr. Alan Massey analyzed the bottle and its curious contents. From Fortean Times:

(The bottle) contained 12 bent iron nails (one of which pierced a small leather heart), eight brass pins, 10 adult fingernail pairings (sic) (not from a manual worker, but a person "of some social standing"), a quantity of hair and urine with traces of nicotine, indicating it had come from a smoker. There were also traces of sulphur, then known as brimstone, and what is thought to be navel fluff. The brimstone recalled the passage in Revelation where the beast and the false prophet were "cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone".

"Discovery of witch bottle used to drive away evil spells"

• [Will]

  The “naval fluff” KILLS me.

• [Flashman]

  Surely that should be “fingernail parings” ?

  • [Anonymous]

    “Surely that should be “fingernail parings” ?”

    Yes…that’s why he put the word “sic” in parentheses…

• [agentofchange]

  Huh! The much maligned Witch! … Parings & such! Witches are gorgeous and use Chanel No 5! Ok..we also use locks of hair (for love incantations) and baby teeth ( they’re so cute! and make great necklaces!) But.. disgustingly smelly body products! I think not!

  This Witch Bottle from the 18th Century would be litigious ‘evidence’ in todays Courts – forget Salem! Those days are gone! … Interesting bottle though… I could fill it with Chanel No 5…

• [Anonymous]

  similar to hoodoo bottle found in Annapolis archaological dig by U of MD archaologists a while back (also had the bent nails and odd stuff, along with pottery shards

• [Anonymous]

  I keep a jug full of stale pee and public shower drain leavings on my person at all times. So far, so good: no witches! WHO’S CRAZY NOW, DOCTOR?! HUH??

• [toolbag]

  Lol, so in what part of Revelation was the beast cast into a pit of naval fluff?

• [Anonymous]

  The fun part is the pot itself. It’s form is typical of the Siegburger Töpferware (Siegburg pottery).

  Siegburg is about 25km south of Cologne, on a tributary of the Rhine. It’s one of the first industrial towns with pottery as the chief export since +1000 (Gregorian). Pottery has been known before there, of course, the town is at least 3k years old.

  Typical of the ware coming from Siegburg is the “Bartmannskrug” (bearded man pot) – a prime example is visible in the picture.

  The brown glazing of the pot dates it as one of the younger items, no older than 16th century. More could be said if the vignette and the head were better visible.

  As such pottery was expensive (as in: Emperors bought it for their tables), it was probably at one time a prized possession, even though the quality is not as high as some I’ve seen.

  Now I only wonder how on earth it got to England :-)

• [Clifton]

  With all those samples of hair, fingernails and urine (“law of contagion”) particularly together with the nail piercing the heart, it sounds to me more like it would have been intended as either a curse or a love spell, depending on what the heart was meant to symbolize.

  Why would someone symbolically stick a nail through a heart to drive off evil spirits? That symbolism would make no sense.

• [DoppelFrog]

  Which bottle?

• [stegodon]

  does nicotine naturally occur in tobacco smoke?

  • [Jerril]

    does nicotine naturally occur in tobacco smoke?

    Er, yes. That’s why smokers, ya know, smoke the stuff?

    • [stegodon]

      i was under the mistaken impression that it only found its way into tobacco smoke as an adulterant

• [Anonymous]

  Would like to try the hex on someone. I know someone who deserves it (due to nasty deeds). However, I won’t because of the rule of 3′s.

• [nanuq]

  “this example is particularly rare because it’s still corked.”

  If this was a horror movie, opening that bottle would have been a really bad idea. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that movie, in fact.

• [nanuq]

  “this example is particularly rare because it’s still corked.”

  If this was a horror movie, opening that bottle would have been a really bad idea. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that movie, in fact.

  • [Daemon]

    That, or you get a genie. Makes the open/not open decision a little tougher.

• [Anonymous]

  Let me say some words about the »bottle«

  As s.o. wrote the bottle is called »Bartmanskrug« but this one is not from
  Siegburg! This one is from a small town called Frechen (5km from cologne away), and I would date it to the year 1630-1700. (those from Siegburg are much lighter)

  The emblem on its front is a rose (typically emblem for this time) and the »Bartmann« – the explanation on forteantimes.com about the origin of this bearded man is just one of many.

  Those bottles were objekts of daily use (wine, oil, water, …) – no occult things. They were produced in a 17th centuries mass production and exported to all over the world.

  Why I know this? I am from Frechen and own some of these in my private collection :-)

  • [Anonymous]

    @anonymous from Frechen :-) That’s the wonders of the Internet: I’ve lived in Siegburg for the first 30 years of my life and now we’re talking on a US-American site. Well met!

    To be sure of the origin, we’d need to have a look at the potter’s seal, of course, but I’ve got a few specimens in my own collection which are of no finer quality than that in the photo and do indeed bear a Siegburg potter’s seal.

    Up until the 16th century, Siegburg ware had indeed a much finer quality or it would be destroyed instead of sold. Later, however, demand grew and thicker pots were made. Some were on special demand by pubs and other establishments where pottery would expect hard wear. Others simply satisfied the demand of poorer customers who couldn’t afford the fine quality.

    The photo isn’t too good, so it’s impossible to say whether the seal on front is a rose. There were so many different designs that we’d need a better picture.

    Where the Bartmann came from is, as you say, a matter of conflicting legends. This particular Bartmann looks a lot like one I saw in the Siegburg museum. However, the Frechen potters – ah – /quoted/ a lot ;-)

    Pretty please, Mr Peskowitz, do get us a photo of the potter’s seal, or there might be yet another feud between Siegburg and Frechen. The last one’s barely over ;-)))

• [Flaminica]

  Witches Bottle Hex*

  * 13 straight pins
  * 3×3″ square of red felt
  * Black permanent marker
  * Small bottle with a screw-cap lid
  * Assortment of sharp objects (broken glass, pins, needles,tack, wood splinters, etc.)
  * Black candle drippings
  * Your urine

  Place the sharp objects in the bottle and put aside. Cut a heart from the felt and write the target’s name in the centre. Then one at a time, stab the pins in various locations, saying with each one:

  I prick your heart and you shall bleed
  With guild for all your nasty deeds.

  When all the pins are in place, put the heart in the bottle and cover the contents with your urine. Drip black candle wax on the inside of the bottle cap and screw it on securely. Throw the bottle in the nearest river.

  ——————

  I have another variation of this hex that involves adding salt rather then sulphur, giving it a good shake and throwing the whole mess in the target’s front yard. The easiest source of sulphur is just scraping down match heads, preferably without igniting yourself.

  * Source: Utterly Wicked, by Dorothy Morrison. I guess it was beyond the skill of the researchers at the Council for British Archaeology to check Amazon, or – you know – ask a witch.

• [IWood]

  Well? Did it work?