The owner of these sleigh bells wanted to divide them into straps to give to family members as keepsakes.
She sent two styles of bells -- "egg" bells and "patent" style bells. Both styles were machine-stamped from sheet brass in the late 1800s or early 1900s. More about machine-stamped bells....
Machine-stamped egg bells are rather fragile because they were made from fairly thin sheet brass. Many of the owner's egg bells were deformed from many hours of jingling, but only a few were broken. These signs tell me the original owner used these bells a lot, but used them with care.
To keep costs down, the owner opted for simple unlined straps made from dark brown leather. Each strap has a leather tie at the top that can be used to attach the strap to a doorknob or hanging hook. There are 21 of these 3-bell straps -- 9 with egg bells and 12 with patent bells. Each strap is about 10 inches long, not including the tie, and 1 1/2" wide.
The metal fasteners are exposed on the back of these straps (click "See more images"). I normally make display straps that are fully lined with a second layer of leather to minimize the chance of a door or wall being marred by the fasteners. But the cost is higher to make a lined strap, so an unlined design is a good alternative if the budget is tight.
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.
