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Curfew bell
14th century
Object Place: England
Medium/Technique
Iron
Dimensions
Height 32.4 cm, width 18.4 cm, depth 12.8 cm (Height 12 3/4 in., width 7 1/4 in., depth 5 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.2039
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Idiophones
DescriptionOf wrought iron. Rectangular cross-section wtih rounded corners; a little smaller at the top. Large, square loop-shaped handle with a wide integral handgrip, grooved in the upper side; the handle continued within the loop through the holes in the upper wall, forming a long loop with the stem of the tongue attached to it. Welded, spherical clapper, diameter 60 mm. at the lower end of the tongue, the stem projecting 35 mm beyond it. Made of one piece of hammered sheet iron about 2 mm. thick, bent and shaped by hammering, overlapped, riveted, and welded. It was formerly bronzed.
ProvenanceBefore 1916, apparently used and found at Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England; by 1916, acquired by Francis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)