Branwen's Cauldron....there is a tale in ancient Celtic culture of Branwen (Welsh for white crow), a Welsh girl whose brother, Bran (The Crow) gave his sister's hand in marriage to an ancient King of Ireland, in the hope that hostilities between Wales and Ireland would come to an end. However, they did not, and hostilities continued.
Eventually, a battle broke out, in Ireland, in which the Welsh suffered heavy losses, and this was because the Irish possessed a magic cauldron, into which would be thrown the bodies of Irish soldiers who died in battle, only for them to be brought back to life by virtue of the potion that the cauldron contained.
When Branwen realised the power of the cauldron, she left the battle-field, found the cauldron and struck it one almighty blow with her sword, which resulted in several cracks appearing. The magic potion flowed out and the bodies of the Irish soldiers slain in battle could no longer be restored to life. Thus the Welsh won the battle and the war with Ireland.
My version is made of heavily scorched and scoured ash (thank you Fiona for the wood), with varying amounts of verdigris wax and copper gilt cream, in an attempt to make the cauldron look old and well used. It's a good size, at 10" diameter and 8" deep (25x20cm)
