Cauldrons to coffins: creepy curios in our collection

Dominating the Warming Room at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, is this large metal cauldron. Although it looks like the archetypal witch’s cauldron (and has featured in the Harry Potter films), it is believed to have originally been used for cooking by the nuns, before the Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539.

Medea, sorceress of Greek mythology, is depicted in this pastel study by Evelyn De Morgan at Wightwick Manor, West Midlands. According to legend, Medea was deserted by her lover Jason and turned to her magical powers to enact revenge. She is pictured here holding a vial of magic potion.

This wooden face mask, on display at Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire, represents ‘Rangda’, the demon Queen of Leyak, a child-eating witch of Balinese mythology. This gruesome character was said to have a loud, rasping voice, 6-inch fingernails and hairy knuckles.

It probably comes as no surprise that you can find a skull at Greenway, the former Devon holiday home of the ‘Queen of Crime’, Agatha Christie. Despite its realistic appearance, it is not an actual human skull but rather a porcelain jar that Christie’s husband Max used to keep his tobacco in.

During the Napoleonic Wars, French prisoners of war found a way to make money by carving elaborate models out of animal bone, which were then sold to the public with the help of the prison guards. We look after several examples, including this ship at Treasurer's House, York.

This Georgian shoe was found under the floorboards at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. It is likely to have been deliberately placed there as it was common, right up until the 20th century, to hide shoes in walls, under floors and in chimneys. Many have been uncovered in recent years. Why they were hidden is still debated, but one theory is that they were believed to protect against evil.

Witch bottles are jars or bottles which contained spells that would draw malevolent magic into them preventing evil spirits from affecting their lives. This bottle, with a liquid inside, was found upside down in a stone boundary wall on National Trust land on the Isle of Purbeck in 1986. It's believed it was placed there to prevent disease in the cattle that grazed the field.

Dogs of Fo are mythical beasts from Chinese legend who guard against evil spirits and demons. They became a popular fashion accessory in 18th-century Europe, often placed at the entrances to rooms. They usually come in pairs, representing yin and yang. This pair at Polesden Lacey, Surrey, were made in China during the Kangxi period, c.1685-1700.

In the days before photography, death masks were a way to create a lasting, accurate likeness of a person. Wax or plaster would be spread onto the face of the corpse and left to harden. The resulting mould could then be used to cast multiple impressions of the face, such as this pewter version of Sir Isaac Newton’s visage hanging on the Study wall at Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire.

This tiny (c. 9cm x 3cm) oak coffin is actually a snuffbox, which can be found in the collection at Llanerchaeron, Wales. As well as providing a quirky talking point, the shape of the snuffbox also served as a memento mori – a reminder to the owner and to others that life is fleeting.

This allegorical painting hangs at Nostel Priory, West Yorkshire. Painted on copper, it depicts death as a violin-playing skeleton, standing before a rich merchant counting his money. Another skeleton can be seen approaching a customer in background. This painting is one of many versions of the same subject by Flemish artist Frans Francken II (1581-1642).