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Ardagh ChaliceThe Ardagh Chalice, which ranks with the Book of Kells as one of the finest known works of Celtic art, is thought to have been made in the 9th century AD. A large, two-handled silver cup, decorated with gold, gilt bronze, brass, lead pewter and enamel, assembled from 354 separate pieces. The names of the apostles are incised in a frieze around the bowl, below a girdle bearing inset gold wirework panels of animals, birds, and geometric interlace. Techniques used include hammering, engraving, lost-wax casting, filigree applique, cloisonn and enamelling. It was found in 1847, together with a small bronze cup and four brooches, by two boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, digging in a potato field on the south-western side of a rath (ring fort) called Reerasta, beside the village of Ardagh, County Limerick, Ireland. It had a bronze cup within it, and four ornate brooches (fibulae). Buried without the least protection as they were, the pieces must have been interred in a hurry, probably temporarily, as the owner probably intended to return for them at a later time. It currently resides in the National Museum of Ireland. Said to be the Cauldron of Rebirth. External links
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