Pellet bell.

Collection type: Object
Description: Pellet bell.
Long description: Cast pellet bell, smooth surface.
Geographical reference: Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria; Benin
Cultural groups: Edo Benin
Person: Field collector Unknown Collector; PRM source George Fabian Lawrence
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1901
Date collected: By 1901 probably 1897
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1901
Materials and processes: Process Cast
Dimensions: Width 17 mm, Height: max 25 mm, Height: max 17 mm excluding loop
Object numbers: Accession number: 1901.53.8
Research and responses: This object is part of a set of bell ornaments purchased from George Fabian Lawrence in May 1900. Lawrence was an antiquities dealer who ran a shop in Wandsworth, London, through which many objects taken from Benin City in 1897 passed. The set had previously been bought by Lawrence at Stevens Auction Rooms on 12th February 1901. This sale had been advertised as "a magnificent collection of BENIN CURIOS, consisting of armlets, bells, heads, carved boxes and stools, bronze Ju-Ju's ceremonial iron swords, ivory carvings, keys, weapons…” (“Sales by Auction”, The Telegraph, Saturday 9th February 1901). [JMC 14/04/2023]
Associated publications: Listed (with rest of 1901.53.6 - .11) as nos RO/34 - RO/39 on p. 2.1.34 of An Illustrated Catalogue of Benin Art, by Philip J. C. Dark (Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, 1982). [JC 1995]