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Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.
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Bronze ox-head bucket-mount buried in grave in Welshpool, c. 150-200 AD
Small bronze ox-head. This is a handle mount that would originally have been attached to a wooden bucket. Judging by the animal represented, we can guess that this was a milk-pail. The ox-head was probably a lucky charm which encouraged cows to produce more milk. Bulls and cows are often found in Celtic art of this and earlier periods, where they represent strength and fertility. This example is an intriguing mix of the older Celtic tradition and the newly-arrived Roman style: the flaring nostrils and lentoid eyes are typically Celtic, while the ornament on the attachment lugs looks very Roman. From a rich burial, probably of a native chieftain, found at Welshpool in 1959.
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