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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 4345586, member: 8267&quot;]According to an article by Philip Peek, much remains unknown about these bronzes. (&quot;Lower Niger Bronze Industries and the Archaeology of the Niger Delta&quot;, published in <u>Ways of the Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta,</u> UCLA Fowler Museum, 2002, ISBN 0-930741-90-0). Metallurgical analysis would probably be helpful but, at least as of 2002, no significant series of analyses have been done that might help establish a chronology.</p><p><br /></p><p>The British copies, sometimes known as &quot;Birmingham bells&quot;, were probably made using 2-piece molds so that multiples could be made easily. But again, very little is known about these. I have found a few examples identified as having been made in England:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359773[/ATTACH] </p><p><a href="https://brunoclaessens.com/2015/11/african-art-made-in-the-uk-the-birmingham-bells/#.YZBivFXMLIU" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://brunoclaessens.com/2015/11/african-art-made-in-the-uk-the-birmingham-bells/#.YZBivFXMLIU" rel="nofollow">https://brunoclaessens.com/2015/11/african-art-made-in-the-uk-the-birmingham-bells/#.YZBivFXMLIU</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316609" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316609" rel="nofollow">https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316609</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/100499369_a-birmingham-bell" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/100499369_a-birmingham-bell" rel="nofollow">https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/100499369_a-birmingham-bell</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The question of mold lines is probably one of those cases where the presence of mold lines is a positive indication that the object was not made using the lost-wax method (and therefore likely a reproduction), but the absence of mold lines may not automatically mean the object is old. As [USER=1496]@Hollyblue[/USER] has pointed out, mold lines can be largely removed in the finishing process, although it is possible they would still be apparent on the interior of a hollow casting.</p><p><br /></p><p>Artisans in West Africa still make objects using the lost-wax technique, so there is also the possibility that your bells are modern reproductions, just African made. Do you know anything about the history of where they came from?</p><p><br /></p><p>You might try contacting this gallery, which has a somewhat similar object for sale:</p><p><a href="https://store.barakatgallery.com/product/yoruba-bronze-bell-shaped-head/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://store.barakatgallery.com/product/yoruba-bronze-bell-shaped-head/" rel="nofollow">https://store.barakatgallery.com/product/yoruba-bronze-bell-shaped-head/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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