Art News

One of Wales’s most prized ancient masterpieces is secured by National Museum Wales

CARDIFF.- An elaborately decorated Iron Age firedog in the form of an iconic double-crested mythical beast, and nearly 2,000 years old, has found a permanent home within Wales’s national archaeological collections. In recognition of its uniqueness as one of the finest surviving prehistoric iron artefacts in Europe, it has been accepted by the Welsh Ministers in lieu of inheritance tax from the previous owners. Formerly on loan to the National Museum, this treasure is now secured for present and future generations – and represents a significant addition to the nation’s collections of Early Celtic Art. The firedog – part ox and part horse in its attributes – is a masterpiece of early blacksmithing. Originally one of a pair, it once defined the hearth at the centre of an Iron Age chieftain’s roundhouse. Seen in flickering firelight, during feasting events, political gatherings and story-telling, it would h