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handbell

Handbell, silver with silver bar, clapper and octagonal knop. Roughened, scored and covered in applied castings (partly taken from life) in very high relief. Body covered in loose pattern of leaves, buds, fruit, flowers and foliage. Towards the top, six lion masks grip festoons of these, some with hanging winged insects. Between festoons, six lizards face each other in pairs, with a winged insect between. Below each alternate festoon a bearded, horned satyr-mask supports a fruit basket. Between the masks are shields bearing fruit, or classical-style labels, as pendants to a ribbon above. Above the ribbon are another six bearded satyr-heads. Between each head alternately is a fruit basket or ram’s skull. Towards handle, six cartouches each display a fruit. Snails, or toads with cockleshells, alternate between. A beetle faces downwards below each. A central roundel supports the handle, designed as a two-sided cast relief with a large, circular aperture in the centre. The relief represents the bust of a female figure emblematical of Caritas (Charity) holding a baby under each arm, surrounded by scrolling strapwork with masks and fruit.

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    British Museum
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  • Repository:British Museum