Brass Altar Bell.

One clear note, hanging in the air for several seconds before it fades: brighter than a dinner bell, lower than a chime. Ring it to mark the moment something begins, and again when it ends.

Bells mark the edges of a rite in traditions across the world, from temple and church towers down to the small handbells kept on home altars, rung to open a ceremony and rung again to close it. Folklore hears the sound less as decoration than as a kind of broom, said to sweep a stagnant room clear of whatever has settled there.

This bell is sand-cast in solid brass at a small foundry in India, heavier than its size suggests, with a turned wooden handle worn smooth before it ever leaves the workshop. A craftsman then tunes it by hand, shaving a whisper of metal from the rim until the pitch settles where it should. Because the tuning is done by ear rather than by machine, no two bells in a batch ring quite alike.

Details

• Solid brass, sand-cast in India
• Turned wooden handle
• Hand-tuned by ear; each rings slightly differently

How to use

Ring it once before beginning anything that deserves your full attention, a meditation, a reading, a quiet hour of work, and once again when it closes. Kept by a door, it also makes an old-fashioned announcement of anyone arriving. A small, bright voice for your altar.