Bartmann jug

(left) 17th-century German jugs, with one displaying the coat of arms of Amsterdam; (right) An unusually elaborate Bartmann jug, 1525–1550, Cologne, Germany (Victoria and Albert Museum)

A Bartmann jug (from German Bartmann, "bearded man"), also called a Bellarmine jug, is a type of decorated salt-glazed stoneware that was manufactured in Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the Cologne region, in what is today western Germany. The characteristic decorative detail is a bearded face mask appearing on the lower neck of the vessel. They were made as jugs, bottles, and pitchers in various sizes and for a multitude of uses, including storage of food or drink, decanting wine and transporting goods.