FrazEr—On a Bronze Cooking Vessel. 461. 
LXII.—Own a Bronze Cooxine VESSEL FOUND SEVERAL YEARS SINCE IN A 
Bog near Ketts, Presentep To THE Royat Irish ACADEMY BY 
THE Marquis or Heaprorp. By Wuttram Frazer, F.R.C.S.L., 
Member of Council of the Royal Irish Academy. 
[Read, February 8, 1886. ] 
A sHort time since the Marquis of Headford kindly informed me he 
would present to this Academy a Bronze Cooking Vessel, which for 
several years past had been in the possession of his family, since its 
discovery in a bog in the vicinity of Kells. It was sent to my charge, 
and at his request isnow added to our collection of Irish Antiquities. 
Every contribution of this description possesses a certain value for 
illustrating the history of our nation in former times, with reference 
to art knowledge, and comparative advance in civilization. Cooking 
vessels such as this, cast in bronze or brass, arenot uncommon. Sir W. 
Wilde, in his Catalogue of our Museum, records seventeen examples. 
He has given an illustrative figure of one which bears a date 1640, and 
I would ascribe this specimen to about the same period. Since his 
catalogue was published our list has increased to twenty-four, the pre- 
sent completing the 25th of our bronze vessels of this description. In 
addition to the ordinary use for cooking food, there can be little doubt 
that such vessels were often utilized for distilling on a limited scale, 
hence their discovery, concealed in bogs and lakes, becomes intelligible. 
Their capacity, as might be expected, varies within wide limits; 
some are so large that they are capable of holding several gallons of 
liquid ; thus the large cauldron which Sir W. Wilde figured holds no 
less than nine gallons, but this is exceptional. The present specimen 
is one of medium average size. Its circumference in its widest part is 
46 inches; it measures 11} inches across its orifice, and stands 144 
inches in height. It rests upon three feet, each decorated with raised 
ribs, one rising on each side of the foot and the third centrally, the 
outer ribs diverging at the upper part, where the legs join the body 
of the vessel, being the ordinary mode of decoration. Sometimes 
we get vessels of this description which have received injuries, and 
been skilfully patched with fragments of other disused or worn-out 
pots, attached in general by rivetting, and showing much ability in the 
artist who repaired them, and likewise the value attached to the vessel 
by its owner. 
The Academy will, I am certain, express its obligation to the donor 
for this addition to our Museum. The acquisition of such objects by 
large collections, such as ours, enables them to be arrayed in juxta- 
position with numbers of similar articles, so that they can be studied 
as a group, and deductions made, which would be impossible if we are 
restricted to a few isolated specimens. In addition to this descrip- 
tion of bronze cooking vessels, made by casting, we possess an 
earlier and highly interesting class of bronze cooking utensils, com- 
posed of beaten or cast plates of bronze rivetted together, of which we 
are fortunate to be able to exhibit several exceptionally good examples. 
