There’s been a recent stir in the news about a 17th-Century “witch bottle” unearthed in England (read about the find at Times Online and MSNBC); although over 200 have been found, this is the first one that’s intact.

The discovery is interesting, but I’m also much taken with the bottle itself. It’s described as “salt-glazed stoneware,” and I love the imposing bearded face on the neck. A bit of online digging led me to the fact that many witch bottles were made of salt-glazed stoneware flagons known as “bellarmines” after the feared inquisitor Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, whose face was traditionally embossed on the neck. (So that’s not some ancient pagan god on the bottle, it’s a really uptight Catholic.)

Original bellarmines are reasonably easy to find, but expensive (I found a couple on eBay for around $600). Fortunately they apparently lend themselves to lots of reproductions: Moonstone Pottery has them, as does Hudson Claypotter. There’s also a lovely one at Colony of Avalon, but it’s a bit pricier than the others.

A bottle like this would make a lovely display piece, especially considering the history of what they were used for.