Mether
Collection object
0000.0213
W. rim 14.7 x 14.3; Body base 13.4 x 12.3; base 14.8 x 13.7; T. base 0.9; T. body max 1.6; H. to rim corners 18.1 - 18.6; To rim centres 17.5 - 17.9; H. handles 11.5 - 12.3; W. handles 2.2 - 2.4, one 2.8; T. handles 2.1 - 2.7; Handle perfs av 2.7 x 1.9; Wt
Mether. Wooden vessel carved from a single block, apart from the base. Externally rectangular in cross-section with broadly rounded corners, and of uniform width on the lower half, splaying and becoming more rectangular towards the rim. Internally cylindrical on the lower half, becoming rectangular with rounded corners towards the rim. The wall thickness narrows evenly in the upper third of the vessel. The rims are narrow and rounded, internally bevelled, with the individual cuts on the bevel remaining, and are concave in elevation between the corners. Four handles, each rectangular in long-section, with a bevel at c.45 degrees removing c. two-thirds of its width at the base. Each handle runs from the bottom of the body to c. three-quarters of the height. The top front corner of each handle is hollowed, forming a finger or thumb grip, and each has two near rectangular lateral perforations occupying the upper two-thirds of the handle. The base is a single piece of wood, squat oval in shape, projecting beyond the body, with a slightly convex bevel from its base to the wall of the vessel. A step on the base, of equal width to the handles, supports the remaining one-third of the thickness of each handle. The base was attached by four iron screws, one driven through the base into each handle, now missing or fragmentary, the base detached. Portion of the base below one handle is missing, and is broken off below the opposite handle, the fragment with the vessel. No decoration. Late medieval C16th FRNO 547, 548, 549 W. rim 14.7 x 14.3; Body base 13.4 x 12.3; base 14.8 x 13.7; T. base 0.9; T. body max 1.6; H. to rim corners 18.1 - 18.6; To rim centres 17.5 - 17.9; H. handles 11.5 - 12.3; W. handles 2.2 - 2.4, one 2.8; T. handles 2.1 - 2.7; Handle perfs av 2.7 x 1.9; Wt. Handwritten in black ink on the base, worn: ..... / Kilcolman ... / From Kilcolman Castle / Co Cork. Handwritten in black ink on a stuck-on paper label on the base: The castle and lands of Kilcoleman Co Cork / were formerly the property of the poet / Spenser - & here it is believed he wrote / (new label) his "Fairie Queen"
Edmund Spencer (associated with)