bell

Lost wax casting in iron (?) of a square-sided hand bell ornamented with geometric patterns and figurative elements. The exterior of the bell is decorated with highly stylised foliate designs which are similar to those seen on some of the copper alloy plaques from the Oba's palace in Benin City. The inside of the bell is black and the clapper consists of a piece of cast metal suspended from a strand of wire that is attached to the handle and threaded through the top of the bell. The sides of the bell have four lost wax castings of lizards soldered to them. The lizards are orientated vertically, with their heads pointing towards the handle. The handle is cast separately in the form of a human male figure who is depicted squatting with his hands gripping his knees. He has large round protruding ears and eyes and from his open mouth large teeth or some other material is shown extruding from it. The back of the head has a horizontal oval-shaped hole cut into it. The hunched back of the figure is cast in an open-work lattice pattern which extends from the base of the neck to the base of the spine and forms a hand-grip.