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43 A LARGE IRISH GEORGE III MAHOGANY BRASS BOUND FUEL BUCKET,of coopered construction, with twin brass side carrying handles.
76cm high, 64.5cm diameter
€ 15,000 - 20,000
The mahogany peat or fuel bucket was a ubiquitous fireside com-
panion in Irish country houses of the Georgian era. They tended to
be made to a fairly standard design, sometimes reeded or spirally
reeded, with brass banding for stability and swing handles for
carrying. The vast majority are no more than 16” high and often
are accompanied by a matching ‘plate bucket’, used for ferrying
warmed dinner plates from the downstairs kitchen to the dining
room.
Cut turf and for that matter, logs are by their very nature large
and big quantities were needed to maintain day and night-long
fires. Standard buckets tended to accommodate relatively small
amounts of fuel so in more commodious houses the turf buckets
tended to be much larger, some as big as three feet high.
As they were too large for the ‘help’ to carry using a swing handle,
these large buckets were carried using two applied brass handles
on the sides. The present lot, that has come from a lovely Co.
Wicklow country house, is one such original Georgian bucket that
displays the robust craftsmanship these pieces required just to
survive. Their elegance too is desired these days by not just the
inhabitants of the great old Irish houses but also by owners of
modern streamlined, light-filled apartments where the minimalism
of their design is appreciated.