Wondering the date

[Jarod84]

Hello, I know it’s a bell. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the age and any other information like what it might have been used for. I live in Vermont USA and this was in a yard of a house that was built around 1870s. Thank you very much, Jarod

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

It's called a crotal bell and would have been on a carriage or sleigh, they're the "jingle bells" of the Christmas carol. I don't know how to date them but it's probably from the time the house was built
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotal_bell

 

[HuntinDog]

Refered to as a Cortel Bell.
Made all the way back into the 1400's.
Your's could have been for small farm animals (lambs, sheep and goats), but with the snap attachment it could have been for a dog.
I'd say it would date in the mid to late 1800's.
Very cool find

 

[Squirrel322]

From my understanding, your bell would have been attached to the neck of an animal. Sleigh bells don’t have the hoop on top.

Yours is the first one I’ve seen with the hook and attachment on top.

 

[Jarod84]

Thank you. The screw thing to stop the clip even works fine.

 

[Reanm8er]

Welcome Jarod and great find! Mostly they're found without any attaching hardware because they mount simply on a belt strap with a brass pin through the loop. I think Huntindog is correct in that your dating of the property is about mid range of their usage.
I wouldn't rule out that this was a Holliday decoration, perhaps to complement a Mistle-toe display, (look up, pucker up and ring the bell).
Oddly enough I have one about this size, on the same clip, that I wear on my back belt loop at Holliday parties. The ladies seem to like it after a bit of Wassail!
You have to be there! Open to interpretation of course!

 

[Peyton Manning]

I would put one on a daughter of teenage, so I knew when she tried to leave the house

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Now that's a great looking crotal bell find!
I've found a lot of crotal bells in various sizes over the years, but I've never seen an attachment like that.
HuntinDog is bang on with his date range of mid-1800s, earlier as opposed to later though.

Some crotal bells have a number marked on them. Most other styles of sleigh bells are not so marked. The number marking is a measurement of the bell's diameter; it is not directly related to the sound of the bell. Although some people only collect bells that are size marked, there is no real difference in the worth, quality or rarity of marked bells compared with unmarked ones. Most crotal bells marked with a size were made in the mid 1800s or later, although a few early-1800s bells also have size markings. The term "No" is sometimes seen with the size marking. This is an abbreviation for the word "Number".

To determine the size, measure the diameter of your bell across the widest part.

ANTIQUE bells 2 1/2" or less: Round UP to the nearest 1/8 inch.
ANTIQUE bells over 2 1/2": Round UP to the nearest 1/4 inch.
All NEW bells: Round UP to the nearest 1/8 inch.

See the table below to determine the size of your bell. This method will work for most bells, but do not be too surprised to find bells marked with sizes that do not follow the "rules" presented here. Bell makers, like dress makers, were sometimes generous and other times stingy in their sizing. One guy's #12 bell might be another's size #10 or #11.

ALL bells 2 1/2" and under:
3/4 inch = #000
7/8 inch = #00
1 inch = #0
1 1/8 inches = #1
1 1/4 inches = #2
1 3/8 inches = #3
1 1/2 inches = #4
1 5/8 inches = #5
1 3/4 inches = #6
1 7/8 inches = #7
2 inches = #8
2 1/8 inches = #9
2 1/4 inches = #10
2 3/8 inches = #11
2 1/2 inches = #12

ANTIQUE bells over 2 1/2":
2 3/4 inches = #13
3 inches = #14
3 1/4 inches = #15
3 1/2 inches = #16
3 3/4 inches = #17
4 inches = #18

 

[ToddsPoint]

Nice reference on the bells. Is there a place on this forum to store such reference material for easy access? Gary

 

[devldog]

Jarod, A Big Welcome to You to the Tnet forum from Georgia. Great find of the bell.

 

[Reanm8er]

Gary, I don't know about storage in the forum but you can copy and paste into Mic Word and save on your device or the cloud if you use it.