Raincross Craftworks

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Antique Forbes California Mission San Gabriel Bell Display

100-year-old Mission San Gabriel souvenir featuring a bronze replica of the main bell at the mission in a trapezoid-shaped wooden display stand- the design used by Father Serra, founder of the California missions. Bell is attached with aged leather lacing and has lovely, clear, high pitched ring due to the quality of the thick bronze; please see video below with it ringing. These display stands are quite rare.

2 3/4 inch tall, 2 1/2 inch diameter bell in 5 3/8 inch tall wooden display stand dated September 14, 1920. Bell in excellent condition with aged patina. Wooden stand shows wear.

Designed, cast and handcrafted by the Forbes Foundry of Los Angeles. Mrs. A.S.C. Forbes visited many of the missions of the southwest and sketched what she could see of the bells hanging in the towers, using those sketches to design the miniature replicas.