Cape Castle Bucket

Description

This bucket is Irish, and dates from early in the last millennium BC. It is made of riveted sheet-bronze with a tub-shaped lower piece, its concave base protected by a wheel-shaped base-plate. The upper portion is made of two sheets of bronze riveted together with flat-headed rivets. The neck is vertical with a rolled rim. The bucket has been much repaired on both base and body. The handles are lozenge-sectioned circular rings, which ride freely in ribbed staples (which may be replacements) riveted to the neck. A distinctive feature is the repoussé decoration on the upper body, a horizontal band of rows of low bosses on the shoulder with filled pendant triangles below. This bucket was found in Capecastle Bog, near Armoy, Co. Antrim.