Tudor stoneware 'Bellarmine' jug, 16th century.

Social History (Museum of St Albans)

Tudor stoneware 'Bellarmine' jug, 16th century; dent and mark on glaze, probably where another pot pressed against it during firing, i.e. a 'second'. Some stoneware jugs imported from the Rhineland have a bearded face on them. They are known as "Bartmann" ("bearded man") jugs or sometimes "Bellarmines" after Cardinal Robert Bellarmino (1542-1621). Cardinal Bellarmine was a Jesuit, an opponent of Protestantism who publicly condemned King James I for his treatment of Catholics. However, the first Bartmann jugs were produced while he was still a child, so it is more likely that the bearded face originally represented a Wild Man, a popular figure in European mythology of the time.

PX4380

CD 433

Digital Camera

[not applicable].