MOLA’s Nigel Jeffries and Professor Owen Davies of the University of Hertfordshire have collaborated with BBC Arts and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to produce a new animated film, based on their research for ‘Bottles concealed and revealed’, a three-year AHRC-funded project to recalibrate understandings of the origin and use of mid-late 17th century ‘witch bottles’ in England.

The Life and Times of a Witch Bottle tells the story of a stoneware bottle from its manufacture in 17th–century Germany, its re-use as a ‘witch bottle’ in England, and subsequent rediscovery in the present.

Produced by Calling the Shots, the film is part of Animated Thinking, a series of eight short animations launching on BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine, exploring the latest ideas from arts and humanities researchers around the UK. The films bring outstanding research across a range of disciplines to life, working with exciting early career creatives, animators and filmmakers.

'The Life and Times of a Witch Bottle' is now available to watch on BBC Arts here. Find out more about the 'Bottles concealed and revealed' project here, or search for #WitchBottleHunt on social media.

Research Witch bottles Pottery