These display straps were made for two sisters who divided their father's bells between them. Their dad created the asymmetric arrangement of the bells with two smaller bells at the top. I was asked to duplicate this pattern on each of their straps. I was a little dubious at first about the idea, but I changed my mind as I constructed the straps -- I now like how the pieces turned out.
Some of the petal bells on these straps include early 1800s bells made by the foundries of William Barton, Seth North, North and Stanley, Hiram or Hubbard Barton, and Joseph Shipman. The rest of the bells are unmarked and were made throughout the 1800s.
A few of the oldest bells have large cracks and holes; this kind of damage is typical for early 1800s bells. As long as these bells are not being used on a horse where the damage could be a safety concern, I think it is perfectly fine to include them on a strap.
One of the straps is made from dark brown leather, 41" long overall, with 15 "petal" bells. The other is 40" long, made with medium brown leather, and has 14 bells. Since most of the bells are larger, I made the straps a generous 2" wide. I added an optional bottom ring to each strap at the sisters' request.
This particular item is a custom, one-of-a-kind project made for a past client. Items in this Custom Projects section are for information only; they are not available for regular sale.
