Witch bottle

A glass phial, possibly of 18th Century date, together with a felt heart stuck with pins. The heart was made by the Museum as an example of what often occurs in a “Witch bottle”. This example, found bricked up in a cupboard in a chimney breast in Seend, Wiltshire, only held a fragment of bone, but they can hold bent pins, human hair, urine, fabric or even real hearts, stuck with pins. Their intent was to turn back any magic cast by a witch on the person who hid the bottle. Bellarmine bottle were often used for this purpose.