‘Witch bottles’ research team collaborate with AHRC and BBC Arts on new animated film
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.
‘Bottles concealed and revealed’ is a three year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to recalibrate understandings of the phenomenon of mid-late 17th century ‘witch bottles’.
How can 'witch bottles' be identified, and what should you do if one (quite literally) falls down your chimney?