Читать книгу Antiques Roadshow: 40 Years of Great Finds - Paul Atterbury, Paul Atterbury - Страница 16

An unexpected find at the Whitchurch Leisure Centre in 2001 concerned a pair of massive peat buckets, made in Dublin at the start of the nineteenth century. Christopher Payne was delighted to be able to examine the buckets and discuss them with the owners, because eighteenth and early nineteenth century Irish furniture is rarely seen on the Roadshow, especially in England. He explained, ‘Peat buckets weren’t made in England, Scotland or Wales and so these are rare and highly desirable. I love the swirling ribbing that goes all the way down the bucket; this is exceptional as the usual decoration is parallel ribbing. The brass bands show that they were made the same way as barrels. They are also the largest peat buckets I have ever seen.’

As Irish woodlands were steadily depleted from the sixteenth century onwards, the peat bogs became the primary source of fuel for both homes and industry. The gathering of peat turf was, therefore, necessary at all levels of society, although landowners generally had the right to cut the peat. Buckets such as these would have stood either side of the main fireplace in a grand house, topped up by the servants from peat stores in the outhouses.

These buckets had a lovely patina, the result of having been in the same family since they were made, and thus in regular use for decades. In their way, they were classic examples of Irish furniture, with distinctive details and styling that set them apart from English furniture of the Georgian period.

Christopher pointed out that their poor condition was part of their appeal. ‘They have been heavily used for nearly 200 years and, frankly, they were falling apart. One was held together with binder twine and the brass bands were loose. They needed a bit of work and a good polish but they were far more appealing and valuable in that condition than if they had been heavily restored.’ For this reason, he valued the pair at £50,000, a price that would be difficult to sustain today because of fluctuations in the Irish market.