Bell thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Bell

ca. 1540-80 (made)
Artist/Maker
Di Girolamo Marci, Gaspare (maker)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

This hand or hanging bell in bell metal was made in North Italy in about 1540-80. The arms found in this bell could be those of the Rossi of Venice. The distinctive leaf decoration can be associated with works by Gaspare. He was one of a number of founders active in Brescia, which was then part of the Venetian empire. Works were often exported from one centre to another. The tassel is a modern replacement, but reflects a type used when the bell was made.


Object details

Category
Metalwork
Object type
Bell
Materials and techniques
Metal
Bell Metal
Brief description
Hand bell probably from the workshop of Gaspare di Girolamo Marci. North Italy, ca. 1540-80.
Physical description
A hand or hanging bell with pierced peg argent and modern tassel. Decorated around the crown with overlapping rows of veined leaf. On the waist, festoons of cornucopia with suspended bucrania, below which is a flowering foliage motif flanked by casts from an antique gem showing Faustulus finding Romulus and Remus under a fig-tree, alternating with a coat of arms overlapping a plain moulding, flanked by springs of flowers or thistles. Around the sound bow, another row of overlapping veined leaf.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.3cm
  • Without peg argent height: 8.3cm
  • Diameter: 9.5cm
Subjects depicted
Cornucopia
Bucrania
Foliage
Trees, Fig
Flowers
Thistles
Romulus
Remus
Faustulus
Summary
This hand or hanging bell in bell metal was made in North Italy in about 1540-80. The arms found in this bell could be those of the Rossi of Venice. The distinctive leaf decoration can be associated with works by Gaspare. He was one of a number of founders active in Brescia, which was then part of the Venetian empire. Works were often exported from one centre to another. The tassel is a modern replacement, but reflects a type used when the bell was made.
Bibliographic references
  • Motture, Peta. Bells and Mortars. Catalogue of Italian Bronzes in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2001. pp. 166-8. cat. no. 53.
  • Burns, H., Fairbairn, L and Boucher, B. Andrea Palladio 1508-1580. London, 1975. p. 64.
  • Radcliffe, A. Gaspare, fonditore bresciano. The Burlington Magazine. CXXVI. no. 981. December 1984. pp. 761-763.
  • Motture, P. The decoration of Italian Renaissance hand-bells. In: Currie, S., Motture, P. The sculpted object, 1400-1700. Aldershot, 1997. pp. 99-117. ref. on. pp. 103, 104, 105.
  • Gloria dell'arte : a Renaissance Perspective, Tulsa, Oklahoma : The Center, 1979 no.52
  • Droth, Martina & Curtis, Penelope (eds.), Bronze: The Power of Life and Death, Leeds : Henry Moore Institute, 2005 2
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
M.28-1923

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O312011/bell-di-girolamo-marci/
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