Lot 269: Antique Cast Metal School Handbell with Turned Wooden Handle

An antique-style handbell featuring a cast metal body, likely bronze or brass, with a dark and heavy patina. The exterior design includes concentric moulded rings at both the shoulder and the sound bow. The bell is mounted with a turned wooden handle that tapers to a small finial at the top. Internally, a metal clapper is attached by a short, rusted iron chain link. An indistinct raised mark or casting irregularity is visible on the interior wall of the bell, but does not provide a clear identification of a maker. This style of bell is characteristic of those used by school teachers or as signal bells during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.