Details

LOT 0870

Roman Bronze Bell

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

2 5/8 in. (137 grams, 68 mm).

Trapezoidal in section with loop to the apex, pierced to accept a clapper; many of these objects are published in the Detector Finds book series. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.

Literature

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession numbers 98.11.34; 89.4.2429 and 89.4.1614, for similar.

Footnotes

The bell was probably used inside a temple where its melodic sound was thought to add to the aura of reverence and mystery. In Mithraic temples, bells were rung as part of the ceremonial, while in the cult of Attis the bell and tympanum were also used to serve food and drink as the critical part of the rituals of consumption. One Roman order of priests applied the term 'belonging to the fields, Campanian' to a metal vessel, which was adopted by the Christian church as the word for a sacred bell (as in 'campanology').