ANCIENT CELTIC RIBBON TORC c500 BC – 500 AD
This Torc, believed to be part of the Rathcormack hoard of 1882-83, made £45,200 including buyers premium at an antiquities sale at Lyon and Turnbull. From a private collection in Edinburgh it was acquired by the family in the 1920’s and thence by descent. The piece originally belonged to Robert Carfrae (1820-1900).
The present style of torc or armlet is exceptionally rare, and is known only from a single hoard discovered near Rathcormack, Co. Cork in 1882 – 1883. The hoard was first described in the ‘Proceedings’ section of the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (Anon. 1883-4, 52) where it was noted that Ralph Westropp of Cork exhibited a silver torc with the accompanying note: “It seems that this was found near Rathcormack, county of Cork, with five others of similar make, about the close of last year or early in the present one, by a peasant, beneath a stone in a field, when ploughing.”
The are three recorded examples of the hoard, currently at the National Museum of Scotland and the Metropolitan Museum, New York. All are known to have originated from the Rathcormack Hoard and it is likely that this piece shares the same provenance, though this is unproven.
