German term
ITI Certified Medical & Marketing DE>EN
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English
Flaschenherrgott
I'm translating a webpage for a museum in Bavaria and I'm absolutely lost on how to translate this without over-explaining, I'd prefer something simple.
Here is the headline: Flaschenherrgott oder Arma Christi?
And the start of the following paragraph for context: Dieses Flascheneingericht ist eine Arma-Christi-Darstellung: Jesus Christus am Kreuz ist umgeben von den Marterwerkzeugen (den „arma“) seines Kreuzwegs.
May 4, 2023 12:31: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Marketing" to "Other"
May 5, 2023 01:19: Murad AWAD changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Proposed translations
United States
God in a bottle
"God in a bottle or Instruments of the Passion?"
"Idol in a bottle or Instruments of the Passion?"
I think "Instruments of the Passion" would read more nicely than "Arma Christi" because of the parallel syntax. Though, the second option has the benefit of alliteration. If you were going to use "Arma Christi," another idea would be to put it first, e.g. "Arma Christi or God in a bottle?" which might be catchier because of the ambiguous syntax. (Syntactically, "in a bottle" could modify either "God" or "Arma Christi.")
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Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-04 11:40:03 GMT)
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When I said "second option," I was referring to "Idol in a bottle or Instruments of the Passion?" not "Arma Christi."
| agree |
philgoddard
: But not idol, which often has negative connotations.
33 mins
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| agree |
Gordon Matthews
: Definitely not 'idol'. Nor 'Deity', because the reference is to the God of the Abrahamitic religions, not any old deity. Nor 'Christ', because 'Herrgott' is the first person of the Trinity, God the father, rather than Christ. Good to avoid 'arma'.
21 hrs
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Marketing, SEO and medical translation
Native in: French
Works in: German to French, English to French, Japanese to French, and 1 more.
The Lord in a bottle / God in the bottle
"God in the bottle" would be the best translation for a "Flascheneingericht" containing items connected with Jesus Christ (most of "Flascheneingerichte" were of that kind in the 19th century apparently).
However it seems that "Flaschenherrgott" is the name given to this specific piece of art (by the museum itself, I guess) so you could (should?) stray a bit from the generic term. I'd go for "The Lord in a bottle" personally.
United States
Creativity wins in the long run
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
, English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
bottled god figurine
Austria
Retd.T&I, Barrister & Austro-Advokat
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish)
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish, French to English, and 5 more.
Bottled Deity
http://https://www.etsy.com/listing/1249059826/vintage-goddess-figurine-bottle-by-avon
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=bottled+deity
United Kingdom
kompetente Fachübersetzung ins Englische
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: German to English, English
crucifixion bottle
Discussion
"Flaschenherrgott" seems to be the proper name given to this specific piece. See here here for example an article about the Finsternau museum: "Zu sehen sind aber auch eine „Kracherl-Flasche”, Kuriositäten wie der Flaschenherrgott, Zuckerbriefchen, ein Heidelbeerkamm, die Geige eines böhmischen Geigenbauers, tragbare Plattenspieler aus den 1950ern und vieles mehr."
http://museen.de/freilichtmuseum-finsterau.html
The object is called a "Flascheneingericht" or a "Geduldsflasche" in German. See here "Fünf Flascheneingerichte, Alpenländisch, vornehmlich 19. Jahrhundert, auch Geduldsflaschen genannt, Kruzifixdarstellungen mit Leidenswerkzeugen, aus Holz, teils farbig bemalt, teils originale Verschlüsse, Höhe von 11,5 bis 17,5 cm"
https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/5784043/
Here's Arma Christi:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arma_Christi
"Ships in Bottles and Their Origins in the Late Nineteenth Century
The origins of the craft are not ususally explored, however. ‘Salt Peter’ suggested that it was ‘a hobby and pastime of seafaring men for centuries’, while John Leonard speculated that ‘it might go back to the late eighteenth century’ and Lauder and Biggs were probably nearer the mark when the suggested the mid-nineteenth century. It has also been suggested that there is a link to the ‘God in the bottle’ or American ‘whimsies’ in bottles. The former usually consist of crucifixes with other symbols of the Passion. They seem to have been made mainly in Germany although some north country examples exist."
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00253359.2013.7...
"The so-called ‘God in the Bottle’ was an object known to Catholics across Europe, and is thought to date from the mid-19th century. At its most basic form, it consists of a carved wooden cross depicting the passion of Christ and a ladder which are connected to a thread or a wire and inserted into a reused bottle though the neck. The threads or wires are then removed using tweezers and the bottle is filled with water or white vinegar to preserve the wood."
https://www.offalyindependent.ie/2023/02/03/keeping-the-god-...