Team bells for horses made by the Robert Wells bell foundry of Aldbourne, Wiltshire, in the 19th century. The four bells are suspended from a leather-covered wooden frame and are partly concealed by a red woollen fringe. This set was tuned to a major chord. Each horse in the team wore a set of bells. The pointed metal supports of the frame were fixed to the hames, the curved wooden or metal sections on the horse collar to which the traces of the harness are attached. The sound of the bells signalled the approach of teams of horses pulling large loads along narrow roads, serving as a warning to traffic travelling in the opposite direction.

A set of team, latten or hame bells, fixed to the hames of a horse collar. Four clapper bells mounted in a hame box, a frame of wood, leather and iron, with a curved top. The frame has a fringe of red wool, and a leather strap across the top. Each bell is circular in cross-section, a truncated cone with a slightly flared base, undecorated, with a loop on the interior for the attachment of the clapper. The set is tuned (approximately) to a major chord (first inversion): A, C, F, A. All three bells, other than the largest, are stamped 'RW' internally.

Clapper bells on Frame
US 143
Musical Instruments

Broad category

Musical Instruments, Idiophone

Additional names, titles, or classifications

catalogue name:  Clapper bells on Frame
common name:  Clapper bell on Frame
object name:  Clapper bells on Frame

Additional maker information

maker:  Wells, Robert

Place

Wiltshire, England, UK, Western Europe, Europe Aldbourne

Additional place information

Aldbourne 

Record created 1999-12-26 by EMOWEN

Record last updated 2017-11-01 by MBIRLEY