Counter-Magic Poppets or Dolls

Three twig and linen dolls were found in the walls when the house was restored. They were counter-magic features intended to ward off witchcraft spells. Other devices of this kind included witch bottles containing hair, pierced red cloth hearts, fingernail parings, and urine, sometimes buried under the front door or under hearths, as well as upside-down horseshoes nailed over the door or to a beam. The interior furnishings reflect a wealthy household, and the artifacts and reproductions evoke the lifestyles of seventeenth-century families including the Budd, Horton, and Wickham households, along with their servants and slaves.

Cutchogue, New York · United States