These bells are an unusual variation of the "globe" bell style. The more common globe bell looks like a small chicken egg. The upper part of the egg was sheared off to make this flat-topped variant. All styles of globe bell were made in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
The new unlined strap is 7/8" wide, about 63" long from buckle to tip, and is made with dark brown leather. The buckle end of the original strap was intact, so I used it to design the buckle end on the new strap. I removed the old buckle from the original strap and cleaned, adjusted, and installed this buckle on the new strap. The billet (the end with holes for the buckle) was largely missing, so I designed a new billet based on other similar old straps.
The owner asked me to only clean the bells to remove the grime, so the resulting bells have a soft oxidized brownish color. They would be golden if they were polished. The solid brass machine screws and finish washers I used to fasten the bells onto the new strap were darkened to blend with the leather and bell colors.
The photos (click on "See more images") show the new strap next to fragments of the original strap, so you can compare the new with the old.
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.
