Age of Fire: Transformation
Bronze cauldron/pot
collection of Helen Klebesadel, Madison, WI
In the collection of Helen Klebesadel
I’m sure if Rae had continued access to a foundry, she would have made more cast metal pieces. She loved designing, forming, adding the spurs and vents, and then watching the finished piece appear out of the hot plaster, with the help of a hose and small hammers.
The Fire cauldron, sister to the Earth and Water pots, stands out as the only one to actually be used in a ritual setting. It has 5 candle holders, of varying heights, in the bottom of the interior, and when lit, their light shine outward.
It was made like the others, by layering wax on a beach ball. Like the Earth cauldron, it had pieces added to it. These were three faces of women, cast using Jeltrate like the hands in the Bronze Broom. These were carefully incorporated into the cauldron so that they were part of it, not added on. The eyes of two the three women, and the mouth of the third were open, and cut out, so that light could pass through them. (No, their eyes were not open when the Jeltrate was applied, that would be asking too much of even those valiant ladies)
The feet, like those of the Celtic Mirror, were snake heads. The title for the Women, Domesticity and Objects of Power show came from the legends of the cauldron of rebirth, and the recurring theme in myth, art and literature of the cauldron as a transformative tool.
The patina for the Fire cauldron was, if I remember correctly, fire. A smoky fire of twigs and leaves, the soot darkening the bronze.