Renaissance Bronze bell.

Table bell in lost-wax cast bronze, surmounted by a female statuette. The bell is richly decorated with faces in scrollwork cartouches, set against a grid background with a network of beaded diamonds. The statuette depicts a semi-nude woman seated in a pensive pose. The treatment of the mascarons and the background with pearly diamonds corresponds to the French and Italian style of the end of the 16th century, around 1550–1580. The hairstyle with coiled locks and frontal cabochon of the Lady, recalls that of the female figures of Florentine sculpture of the 16th century or of the Fontainebleau school of the same period. The hand represented in a large, stylized way, without seeking reality, is in accordance with the plastic tradition of the Renaissance and contrasts with the aesthetics of the 19th century. It is very likely an allegory of Melancholy, a frequent figure in the 16th century. The bronze clapper is melon-shaped, suspended from a curved iron rod inserted into a coarsely filed thread. Note the presence of a bronze piece added and soldered to the lower rim of the bell, to correct a casting accident, common in the 16th century. Beautiful brown patina with a greenish oxidation sheen.
Date: Circa 1550–1580. France or Northern Italy.
An object of excellent quality and very rare.
Height: 13 cm