Cattle Bell
Unknown Artist
19th century
Medium
Metal
Dimensions
Height 21.0 cm, Diameter +/- 9.0 cm, Weight 1263 g (including yoke)
Classification
Idiophone-Struck-bell-clapper
Culture
Austrian
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Accession Number
89.4.1708
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments this 19th-century Austrian *Cattle Bell* exemplifies the humble yet vital tools of rural life. Crafted from metal, it stands 21 cm tall with a diameter of about 9 cm and weighs a substantial 1,263 grams—including its yoke—making it sturdy enough for daily use on alpine pastures. As an idiophone struck by an internal clapper, the bell produces a resonant clang when the animal moves, a simple yet effective acoustic signal. In 19th-century Austria, cattle bells were indispensable for herders in mountainous...