Old cow bell and a piece of I dont know what...

[-=METAL=-]

Old cow bell and a piece of I don't know what...

So I was in the woods on an old cart path that opens up into an old farmers field, there was a water source, so I wondered if it was used for live stock...

But anyhow, is this a cow bell? And can anyone tell me what this other thing is from?

Thanks in advance!

 

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[kuger]

we still bell our cattle when we take them to the summer range and use some of the same bells my great grand dad used...they are bigger than that one.Your's looks like the goat bells we have hanging in the barn. The other piece appears to be half of a two piece sash buckle



..as for the age of the Goat bell....?Well,all I can tell you is the ones in my barn were still in use into the 1970's....

 

[-=METAL=-]

So it's a goat bell? Any idea on how old it might be? The last time a goat walked in this field had to be quite some time ago. Thanks for the info, anyone else care to chime in?

 

[-=METAL=-]

Awesome info, thank you.

 

[Helix]

Nice relic find! I second that motion. Its a bell for a smaller animal like a goat or pig, sheep, dog ?? Here are few I have found around old farms.

 

[-=METAL=-]

I love this hobby and this forum, somebody always knows what you've found!

 

[Jeff H]

That's funny, I have the other half of that sash buckle.

 

[Breezie]

OMGoodness, what are the chances that METAL and Jeff H would each find half of a Victorian with a butterfly and flower?

I do LOVE this hobby!
Neat finds
Breezie

 

[-=METAL=-]

That is kind of funny, they must have been popular i guess This was found in MA. A common sash buckle maybe

 

[BosnMate]

Don't get too quick on the goat bell. It also could be a hames bell.

 

[-=METAL=-]

I see, what are those used for and how do I tell the difference?

 

[BosnMate]

They are used on the hames on the horse collar. They would let the teamster hear what horse might be slacking off, not pulling his load, and also on a windy mountain road, you could hear another team approaching around a bend. I don't know what the horse thought about those bells in it's ears like that, I know bells in my ears like those on the horses would drive me nuts. The photo of the team pulling the wagon shows hames bells, and the close up of the mule shows a slightly different style of hames bells, but that's where and how they were used. That said, I think goat and hames bells were probably the same thing put to a different use, and the fact you found the bell at a spring, and not along a road, makes it probably a goat bell, I'm just putting up another option. I have a set of hames bells that have three different size bells on the same bar. In the photos the close up of the bells held in place with horseshoe nails look exactly like your bell, and Kuger says he has a barn full of goat bells that look just like yours, so I reckon the choice is yours to make. Unless you found it along a freight or stage coach road, then I'd guess Hames, sheep pasture at the spring, no doubt goat bell.
Somehow I got two photos of the same thing, and can't get rid of one. Sorry about that.

 

[kuger]

I would go with Bosn's ID,he is a pretty sharp feller,has a ton of experience,and the pictures he provided look more like yours than my goat bells.As he stated I do know that bells were used on harness......there actually is a piece of a ore rd on my families place that is in a tight canyon,where they supposedly used belled harness,on the oxen,and horses traveling it....I also cant say that "my",bells were not re-purposed!!

Here are the type I am talking about .....and not the means of attachment is different


Bosn,nailed it I beleive

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell! (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one!)

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Preferring to keep my posts strictly Educational, I very rarely do any humor in them. But in this case, I can't resist.

"You're both wrong... that is an Elven brooch, from Middle Earth."

Now, back to Educational:
Breezie, that is either a butterfly with the longest tail I've ever seen... or in actuality it is a dragonfly.

 

[yaxthri]

CannonballGuy I agree on the dragonfly ID.
I wonder if Breezie can tell the age of the buckle, as far as I know dragonflies were very popular motifs in the "Art Nouveau" era.

 

[Jeff H]

That is kind of funny, they must have been popular i guess This was found in MA. A common sash buckle maybe

Hmmmmm........I also found my half in MA . If you found your half in the Fall River area, I might start to get a little freaked out

 

[-=METAL=-]

Hmmmmm........I also found my half in MA . If you found your half in the Fall River area, I might start to get a little freaked out

Wow, I also found my half in Fall River... nah... can't be the SAME one... no way..

 

[Jeff H]

This is bizarre Metal. I looked at your posting history. I saw the post where you found some clay balls. I know exactly where you found those as I have hit that site myself. We need to find someone we can individually PM with the location of where we found the sash buckle to see if it is indeed both halves of the same piece. Any volunteers?

 

[nhbenz]

Sure, I'm curious.