Bell

Topped by a slightly irregular suspension loop, this openwork globe is formed by seven undecorated bars, one of which is incomplete due to a casting flaw or less likely a breakage, as the edges are smooth. As a bell, it would have contained rattle pellets. A round protrusion at the bottom is broken off roughly. A variety of analogous bells, some with intact pellets and pomegranate calyx bottoms, are attributed to Luristan (1). Excavated examples are known from the northwestern Iranian sites of Hasanlu, Sialk B, and Marlik Tepe (2). Excavation contexts suggest that bells of this size belonged to horse trappings, while those of smaller dimensions may have been personal ornaments. NOTES: 1. See A. Godard, Les Bronzes du Luristan, Ars Asiatica 17 (Paris, 1931) 68, no. 107, pl. 29; P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1971) no. 155, pl. 28; O. W. Muscarella, Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1988) 274-75, no. 371; and N. Spear, Jr., A Treasury of Archaeological Bells (New York, 1978) 84 and 87, nos. 62-70 and 76-87. 2. See R. Ghirshman, Fouilles de Sialk près de Kashan, 1933, 1934, 1937 (Paris, 1938-39) pl. 25.6; Muscarella 1988 (supra 1) 67-68, nos. 97-101; E. O. Negahban, Marlik: The Complete Excavation Report, University Museum Monograph 87 (Philadelphia, 1996) 307, no. 943, pl. 136; M. De Schauensee and R. H. Dyson, Jr., “Hasanlu Horse Trappings and Assyrian Reliefs,” in Essays on Near Eastern Art and Archaeology in Honor of Charles Kyrle Wilkinson, eds. P. O. Harper and H. Pittman (New York, 1983) 59-77, esp. 71-72, fig. 19a; and I. J. Winter, A Decorated Breastplate Hasanlu, Iran: Type, Style, and Context of an Equestrian Ornament, University Museum Monograph 39 (Philadelphia, 1980) 46 and 55, figs. 4 and 13. 3. See Moorey 1971 (supra 1) 136-37 and 235, no. 433, pl. 66; and Muscarella 1988 (supra 1) 8 and 67-68. Amy Gansell