FRIGHTFUL STORIES

Ghostly tales and creepy objects from our collections

5-minute read


Share in the stories of ghosts and witches, evil spirits and scary creatures, and all things frightful as we celebrate Halloween and Bonfire Night. On this page:

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KNIGHT, DEATH AND THE DEVIL

By Albrecht Dürer, 1513

Allegorical print by Albrech Durer in black and white showing a Knight mounted on a horse in an encounter with Death on a horse and the Devil - surrounded by skulls

In this large, allegorical engraving by the German printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), we see a mounted knight in the foreground, while Death rides beside him clutching an hourglass. The Devil is on the right, behind the knight's horse, in the form of a grotesque animal. The knight is accompanied by a dog. A lizard lies beneath the horse's feet, and a skull sits on the tree-stump in the bottom left corner.

It's a finely-executed depiction of calm, steely resistance to evil and mortality. Dürer was probably influenced by the writings of his friend, the humanist philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Although the anatomical details distinguish the engraving as a masterpiece of naturalistic observation, it's arguably the fantastic elements that give the picture its power. John Ruskin used the engraving to make both moral and practical points in his teachings. It was presented by him to the Ruskin Drawing School and is now in the Ashmolean's print collection.

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View the print in the Western Art Print Room


 

MEMENTO MORI SKULL RING

Memento mori gold, enamel and diamonds skull ring, Europe, 1600–1700

Gold and diamond memento mori skull ring from the 17th century

Death from disease, famine or war was an ever-present reality in the 16th and 17th centuries. Memento mori rings (from the Latin ‘remember that you must die’) reminded the wearer of the brevity of life, and the need to prepare for death and the afterlife. The prospect of death served to emphasise the emptiness and fleetingness of earthly pleasures, luxuries and achievements.

This is the finest memento mori ring in the Ashmolean’s collection. Diamonds are set in the skull’s eye sockets and nose, and in the crossbones. These would have sparkled and flashed in the light, drawing attention to the ring’s macabre message.

The ring was presented to the Museum by C.D.E. Fortnum in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It's one of the remarkable collection of over 800 rings, also by C.D.E. Fortnum. The collection was given to the Museum with the aim to help us become ‘an institution of the first importance for teaching and illustrating the development of art applied to both small and larger objects’.

On display in the Arts of the Renaissance, Rings Gallery, 56, 2nd floor.
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SKULL AND CROSSED-BONES FUNERARY MEMENTO MORI

Memento mori chiaroscuro woodblock print, 1720s

Mememto Mori ephermeral funerary chiaroscuro print showing a skull and crossbones

This woodblock print was made by a French or Italian artist and dates to the 1720s. It’s a chiaroscuro woodcut printed in black, grey and silver, mounted on a board with a piece of knotted string at the front. It has traces of melted candle wax and shows signs of once having been fixed to a stick or pole, so it was most likely carried during a funeral procession. 

Such images were probably once quite common at funerals. The skull and crossed bones - an emblem often found on old tombs and monuments - would have reminded those attending the funeral of their own mortality, acting as a Memento Mori. The flickering candlelight reflecting off the silver and white surfaces of the print would have looked quite ghostly, hinting at the horrors of Hell and decay.
Although several of these prints would have been produced, they were not the sort of object that would have been considered worth preserving, so most would have been discarded. This is the only known surviving example of an ephemeral funerary chiaroscuro print.

On display in Gallery 8 in Bettina von Zwehl's Ashmolean NOW exhibition - opens 18 Oct

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THE WITCHES' DANCE

Scene of Witchcraft, woodcut illustration, 1720

Black and white scene of witchcraft print, Douce collection, 1720

 

In this lively woodcut illustration, English witches are making merry, the male dancers replaced by devils. Depictions of witchcraft confessions often included scenes of subverted domestic life and pastimes, such as dancing and drinking, as well as ideas from elite demonology.

The woodcut is from T.S. Norris's The History of Witches and Wizards, published in London in 1720. The illustrator is not known. By that time, there had been no executions in England for 40 years, and witch trials were already curiosities passing into folk memory.

The Ashmolean has a significant collection of witch and witchcraft Douce prints, of which this is one.

You can see this print and others by appointment in the Print Room.
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SATAN

By Jean-Jacques Feuchère, 1833–1834

80cm high, Satan bronze sculpture by Jean-Jacques Feuchère, 1833-1834

This expressive 80cm-high bronze figure by Feuchère, deep in brooding melancholy, epitomises the interests of the Romantic sculptors. When first exhibited at the Paris salon in 1834, it was described as 'a personification, with plenty of verve and ardour, of the evil genius at odds with being powerless'.

The bronze inspired numerous other sculptures throughout the 19th century, culminating with Rodin's 'Thinker' in 1902.

On display in the Pre-Raphaelites gallery 66, 3rd floor.
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EVIL EARTH SPIDER

Prince Kuromo and the Earth Spider, Japanese woodblock print, 1867

Colourful Japanese woodblock print showing Prince Kurokumo and the Earth Spider

There are several Japanese legends surrounding the evil 'earth spider' or 'tsuchigumo'. Here, the earth spider transfers magical powers to Prince Kurokumo to help him plot revenge on his enemy, the 10th-century warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also known as Raikō). The tsuchigumo creature is basically a giant spider, though it is sometimes described as having the face of a demon and the body of a tiger. 

'Tsuchigumo' has also referred to certain groups of people in ancient Japan, such as bandits and resistant leaders, who used guerrilla tactics. Many of these groups lived in hollow earthen mounds and may have used caves as hideouts. There is, however, ambiguity in the sources and it’s unclear if tsuchigumo was first used to refer to people or the monster.

This woodblock colour print is from a ghost series, Beauty and Valour in the Novel Suikoden' by the designer Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, dating to the Edo Period. The evil earth spider also features in another triptych in our Japanese print collection.

You can view this print and others by appointment.
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GHOST KIMONO

Silk Jūban Kimono, 1901⁠–1930

Kimono showing a ghost in front of a giant moon in pale creams and muted greys

This ethereal, silk jūban (non-formal) kimono is dyed with a design of a female ghost who peers through the window of a house, floating above autumn grasses in a long white burial robe. 

She is an example of a yūrei, a tormented ghost who remains among the living in order to seek revenge or take care of unfinished business.

Her pale face, wispy hair and dangling, bony hands express her misery. In Japan, ghost stories are associated with the hot and humid summer months, when a scary ghost story sends welcome shivers down the spine.

The kimono was recently acquired by the Museum.

Not on display
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Explore our ghost and demon prints in a previous online exhibition


 

IVORY CARVED BAT SEAL

Official Peking University Ivory Seal, top carved with two bats, early 20th century

Carved ivory official sea, with bats

Measuring about 6cm square, the top of this official ivory seal for Peking university is carved with two bats. The seal reads: Guoli Beijing daxue yanjiusuo guoxuemen, 'Research institute for the study of the cultural heritage of the Guoli University of Beijing'.

Contrary to their spooky associations in the West, in China, bats are symbols of good luck and happiness. The Chinese admiration for bats goes back to ancient times and the Chinese word for bat is ‘fu,’ pronounced the same as the word for good fortune.

This object is not on display.

Eric North Bequest
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CERAMIC PUMPKIN

Mother Pumpkin II by Kate Malone, 2004

Kate Malone's shimmering pumpkin sculpture in the Sickert Gallery

This 20-cm high sculpture was made by ceramic artist Kate Malone, fashioned in stoneware and moulded as a pumpkin with a twisted stem. The underside has two air holes, is fired unglazed in a salt kiln and has caught salt vapours on its surface.

Describing her love of pumpkins, Kate says, 'it has a beautiful shape and it looks corporal like a bosom, a belly or something plump and juicy.' She has made many ceramic pumpkins, large and small, mostly glazed, making this a unique example.

Pumpkins are seen as good omens to ward off the evil spirits of Halloween, because they symbolise abundance at harvest time. The history of pumpkin carving, associated with a ghoulish figure called 'Jack O Lantern' - although popularised in America - goes back to the Celtic tradition. People used to place root vegetables, decorated with scary faces, on their doorsteps to frighten the devilish Jack away.

On display in the Sickert and his Contemporaries Gallery 63, third floor.
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WATCH OUR 'SCARY OBJECTS IN THE MUSEUM' VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EgDk8ilDwHM?rel=0&cc_load_policy=1