N° d'objet
59/216
Description
This is a canister sheep bell with a single loop, or staple, at the top to which a leather strap is attached. Canister bells are the oldest type of sheep bell and are the same width from shoulder to mouth, with a flat crown. Bells like this were used by shepherds to help them locate their sheep. The donor purchased this bell in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in the 1920s and was told that it was worn by a 'bell wether' - a sheep wearing a bell which leads the flock - on Salisbury Plain.
Description physique
1 sheep bell: metal; leather
Historique d'archive
Letter, Leonard K. Elmhirst to C. A. Jewell, 9 December 1958 – ‘… I am sending a set of sheep bells which I myself bought 30 years ago in Amesbury from a man who said they used to hang round the neck of bell wethers which led the flocks of sheep on Salisbury Plain. Luckily there is one complete with its oak pegs and leather fitting made, as you will see, from an old harness. I was delighted to get them at the time and one of them became the symbol of the International Conference and was used for calling the Conference to order. // I have no idea of the age of these bells, or who made them, but the harness explains itself and proves that they were for sheep and not for cows. …’
Nom d'objet
Matériel
Document électronique
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_2874.tif - High resolution image
