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1940.7.0339

Iron clapper bell with elongated body and open seam running down the front [RTS 5/9/2005].

1940.7.0339

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Collection type
Object
Description
Iron clapper bell with elongated body and open seam running down the front [RTS 5/9/2005].
Long description
Iron clapper bell with elongated body and open seam running down the front. Clapper bell made in 2 joining parts. The bell has been formed from at least 2 rectangular iron sheets hammered together to form a double thickness, with the edges folded inward on the upper part to form a narrow, rectangular-sectioned tongue with concave shoulders. This has been bent over into a suspension loop at the top, the tip of which is only roughly finished. Below, the sides of the sheet have been bent inwards to form a narrow cylindrical bell with an open seam running down the front. The body expands slightly towards its base. The clapper has been made from a separate piece of iron, roughly circular in section. This is bent over at the top, where it hooks over the suspension loop; the clapper body then extends below the base of the bell, where the end has been curled up and inwards. The bell is complete and intact, with some surface rust that has darkened the metal to a brownish colour (Pantone Black 7C). It has a weight of 50.6 grams and a total length of 120 mm; the bell body is 100 mm long, with a base diameter of 18 by 17.3 mm and a wall thickness of 1 mm; the suspension loop is 17 mm long, and 3.5 mm wide; the clapper is 105 mm long, with a rod diameter of 3.5 mm and a base diameter of 10.8 mm [RTS 5/9/2005].
Person
Field collector Samuel Peach Powell
PRM source Samuel Peach Powell
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1940
Date collected
By 1940
Acquisition information
Loaned: 1940
Materials and processes
Material Iron Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Bent
Dimensions
Length: max 120 mm, Weight 50.6 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1940.7.0339
Research and responses

The accession book entry does not specify an cultural or geographical origin; as Samuel Powell is the collector,an attribution to Uganda or the Southern Sudan is likely. Petherick collected 3 bells of this type, which he attributed to the Dinka (see 1884.108.10-12), while a similar form is known from Kiga in Uganda (see M. Trowell & K.P. Wachsmann, 1953, Tribal Crafts of Uganda, pl. 77H and p. 326). There is no proof that this has been recycled from a spear socket [RTS 5/9/2005].

Search terms: Music, Musical Instrument, Bell