Posted 11 years ago
cwpost
(122 items)
I have displayed images of a very early ENGLISH LEATHER FIRE BUCKET. I was told that it is an English bucket due to the picture on the front of a coat of arms, from the Queen Elizabeth the 3rd reign.
Measuring 8 inches in diameter x 15 1/2 tall. It is made of leather and lined with canvas.
Leathern Fire Bucket
The Great Fire of London, that began in a wooden house on Pudding Lane in 1666, burned for three days, destroying 13,200 homes, 88 churches, and hundreds of buildings including hospitals and libraries. Fire was a very serious business.
By 1700, leather fire buckets were dispensed throughout the city. They were three gallon buckets, made of cowhide reinforced at the brim with a wooden hoop (usually of hazel or wicker). Attached to the hoop were two iron rings, between which was strung a long handle of leather-covered rope. The leather was usually thin, and stitched over the rope. Many antique fire buckets (especially of the 18th Century) have lost the leather cover on the rope.
The base panel of the bucket is like a shallow leather dish; the walls of the bucket are sewn around the edge. In addition, two pieces of stiff leather were sewn into the base of many buckets (in the form of a cross) to act as stiffeners. The walls of the bucket were usually one piece of heavy leather (approx. 5 mm thicks) wrapped into a slightly tapered funnel shape with the ends sewn together, making a side seam. The interior was often (but not always) lined with linen.
Fire ordinances of many communities in Europe and North America required every occupant or owner of a store or dwelling to have one good painted leather fire-bucket, with the initials of the owner's name painted thereon for each fireplace or stove in the building, the bucket to be hung within easy reach. They hung on the walls, filled and ready with sand. Once emptied of their sand on the blaze, they would be refilled with water. When the alarm rang (sometimes church bells, or twirled rattles swung by volunteers called Rattle Watchers or Prowlers), the shout of throw out your buckets would be quickly heeded by everyone. Filled fire buckets would be passed from a water source, down the line to the fire by strong-armed men, and returned by another line made up of woman and boys.
Often, fire buckets are labelled with the owner's name (often a municipal by-law) or blazoned with patriotic motifs, such as an eagle in the United States, or the Royal cypher in Britain and Canada.
I welcome any and all information pertaining to this item.
Really enjoyed all the history you presented.
Phil, you don't waste any time!
Thank you much. Tis good to know that information saught is sure to be gained.
This is a vintage 1941 B.H. & G. LTD. English Leather Artillery Shell Carrier. Not quite so old as you were told, nor is it a fire bucket. There is one like for sale https://www.etsy.com/listing/156747483/vintage-1941-bh-g-ltd-english-leather
Thank you very much for you information
Actually feniangirl, I'm not entirely convinced with that sales pitch. They are trying to sell something & get the most money. With any shell of that dia. , approx. 2/3rd of it would be sticking out of the top. Which do you leave open to fire or being hit? The fuse or the primer? Maybe for powder bags, but most artillery of that small of a dia. don't use powder bags. The gun chamber would have to be about 6" & possible. I'm just not ready to buy the spiel of a sales-person who probably knows less than CW members. Not real sure I go with the water bucket either, but makes a bit more sense. Think this needs more research. Maybe a royal chamber pot? LOL!
Just happened to see this thread and wanted to post a quick comment... blunderbuss2 my description was not a "sales pitch" designed to "get the most money". I too am a member of CW and spend a lot of time on research, so your comment "I'm just not ready to buy the spiel of a sales-person who probably knows less than CW members" grates more than a little. The English company that made this shell carrier - B.H. & G. LTD. - is very well documented as is the purpose of this item.
Birney, we have all seen things for sale misrepresented. We have to question sources of those items if we are wise. Is that the only thing that company made ? Everything on evil-bay is "rare".
It's my description and was not on eBay. Please do a little background research before you malign someone else's work.
https://barrowhepburngale.com/heritage/
Once again during the Second World War, we were called upon by the War Department to make leather goods and webbing for soldiers, sailors and airmen. Our war work led to the two-hundred-year-old tannery Grange being targeted during a bombing raid on London
That took awhile Birney. It's a "Clarkson carrier" otherwise known as a "pass box". Used for carrying powder bags. Not "shells". I knew 15" high was way to short for that.
http://antiquecampaignfurniture.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-is-cordite-bucket.html
We are splitting hairs here, but it is not a "shell carrier" & that is what prompted me to question it. If you insist on a duel, don't make it "at 1st dawn" because I don't have a pulse before 9:AM