Harvard Art Museums > 2012.1.74: Bell Tools and Equipment Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Bell , 2012.1.74,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 06, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/174952. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2012.1.74 Title Bell Classification Tools and Equipment Work Type bell Date 4th-6th century CE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World Period Roman Imperial period, Late, to Early Byzantine Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/174952 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast Dimensions 3.7 x 2.9 cm (1 7/16 x 1 1/8 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The surface of the bell is corroded with fine green and brown corrosion products as well as white crystals on the inside. The shape of the bell is slightly irregular, but it is intact. The iron clapper has been entirely disfigured by rust and is fused to the inside of the bell. The inner rim of the cast bell is beveled. A copper alloy wire was used to suspend the iron clapper, and the ends of the wire pierce the walls of the bell on each side of the exterior loop. The wire terminals are bent down on the outside to secure them. Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2011) Provenance Recorded Ownership History The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (before 1970-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University Accession Year 2012 Object Number 2012.1.74 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums This bronze bell has a large, thick hexagonal loop (1). Two small segments of bronze wire are fused to the body on either side of the loop where the suspension wire for the clapper was attached to the body. On the interior, a copper alloy suspension wire is visible under the corroded iron clapper, which is fused to the side. NOTES: 1. Compare Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 89.4.1935; and A. Villing, “For Whom Did the Bell Toll in Ancient Greece? Archaic and Classical Greek Bells at Sparta and Beyond,” Annual of the British School at Athens 97 (2002): 223-95, esp., 259-60, fig. 27. Lisa M. Anderson Publication History John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), M122, p. 186 [J. S. Crawford] Subjects and Contexts Ancient Bronzes Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
