'Bartmann goes global' - the cultural impact of an iconic object in the early modern period

The most recognizable of all German products of the early modern period, encountered on archaeological sites across the world, is the stoneware container with distinctive male bearded face mask and applied medallions, variously known as the 'greybeard', 'bearded man', Bellarmine or Bartmann jug. Most typical of the Frechen potteries located just outside Cologne in the Rhineland, but also made at other centres in Germany and Belgium, and usually associated with drinking and storing liquids, these vessels form part of a wider market for Rhenish stonewares that dates back to the Middle Ages. The distinctive Bartmann form was produced in huge quantities: estimates of the production volumes at Frechen, based on 17th-century records for clay extraction, propose 539.000 to 1.360.000 vessels per year. Most were specifically made for export, mainly to England or the Netherlands, and they are found in a wide range of archaeological contexts, mainly dating to c. 1500-1750, in major urban centres such as London and Amsterdam, on smaller sites and in shipwrecks. As a result of colonial expansion they were carried across the world, occurring in early European settlements such as Jamestown, Virginia.

By gathering together and interpreting 'big data' and drawing on scientific analyses, this project aims to expand our understanding of this highly significant and iconic artefact in a new international, integrated, interdisciplinary and interactive project to advance the frontiers of Bartmann research not only in north-west Europe but on a global scale.

The central objective of the project is, by studying the relationships between producer/source, market and consumer and the range of cultural contexts in which Rhenish stonewares are found c. 1500-1750, to achieve a broader academic, professional and public understanding of the importance of the Bartmann jug across the globe. This would position it as a resource for understanding technological development, cultural significance, means of communication, trade and globalisation in early modern Europe. The main aims and objectives of the project will be achieved by means of bespoke work packages focussing on six key empirical objectives - to carry out a thorough review of archive sources; to establish a definitive terminology and typochronology; to establish fabric characterisation of Rhenish and English stoneware; to establish the social and cultural impact of the Bartmann; to establish the impact of Rhenish stoneware on ceramic innovation/adaptation; to establish the role of the Bartmann in global trade and consumption. We will be examining trade connections in NW Europe and Britain, in the N American colonies, from various shipwreck sites and worldwide, in Africa, south America and south-east Asia.

This will result in a major publication in a single open access volume of up to 150.000 words in English, as part of the MOLA Monograph Series; a series of articles in international academic peer-reviewed journals with open access; a handbook on the evolution of Bartmann jugs; a PhD; and an international conference. We will actively involve Citizen Scientists, disseminate our project via a project website with a crowdsourced online database, connect with museum audiences and practitioner groups, and advertise the project via our institutions' social media channels and in articles for non-academic titles.

The research proposed and its aims and objectives will be realised through partnership built between researchers across a range of subject areas and professional settings in the United Kingdom and Germany, primarily MOLA and German academics from LVR-LMB, LVR-ABR, Tübingen University and the University of Bonn. The application will be further shaped and developed in partnership with other German museums and with museums, historians and archaeologists elsewhere in Europe and beyond (e.g. in Virginia, USA).