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Hand Bell

ca. 1560-1600 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Italy (made)

The general form of this bell, together with the use of moulding wires separating the bands of decoration and the clean chasing, is comparable to bells produced by the Giuseppe de Levis foundry. This is certainly north Italian and can possibly be associated with Verona in the second half of the sixteenth century.


Object details

Categories
Household Objects
Sculpture
Object type
Hand bell
Materials and techniques
Bell-Metal
Brief description
Hand bell, bell metal, Italian ca. 1560-1600.
Physical description
Hand bell with handle missing, decorated around the crown with downward-facing acanthus, borded by moulding wires. Around the neck, a row of bead. Around the waist, bordered by astragals or moulding wires, sprouting foliate scrolls supporting birds, between which are displayed eagles emanating from which are hanging beads. The sound bow divided into two bands of decoration: above, foliate and floral swags, below which are foliate motifs; vine decoration and a row of beads.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8cm
  • Diameter: 10cm
Subjects depicted
Acanthus
Birds
Eagles
Foliate
Swags
Vine Scrolls
Summary
The general form of this bell, together with the use of moulding wires separating the bands of decoration and the clean chasing, is comparable to bells produced by the Giuseppe de Levis foundry. This is certainly north Italian and can possibly be associated with Verona in the second half of the sixteenth century.
Bibliographic reference
Motture, Peta. Bells & Mortars: Catalogue of Italian Bronzes in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2001. pp. 164-5. cat. no. 52.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
M.3-1947

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O311207/hand-bell-unknown/
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