Expert: Martin G Roberts - 12/4/2004

Question
I have received 13 pewter bells from a gentleman approximately 50 yrs old. He said these belonged to his father who I believe is now deceased. These bells are of Jesus and the 12 disciples (the names are on front under the figure) and stand approx. 4 3/4 in. tall. The detail is very nice. The clapper is held on by a thin strip of leather. On the bottom of the clapper is stamped crown rose cast pewter with a crest in the center that says made in london. On one side of the clapper, it says Made in England. On the other side it has a mark that looks like a pyramid with a capital B over capital PC. One of the bells is in three pieces, the figure, the bell, and the clapper. Where the leather goes into the clapper, it looks like there is some sort of connector there as there are brass or copper pieces on each side of the leather. As I said before, the name of Jesus or the disciple that the bell is supposed to portray is on the front and bottom of the of the figure. The figures on the bells look very different from each other. On the back There are marks that I dont understand. One looks like a d/m , but the letters are rounded so I don't know if they are of the english alphabet. Also on the back of each figure is another marking all of which are different so I think they may be the mark of the different artists. One looks like a barrell with 2 lines horizontally in it, another looks like a sideways c only backwards, another looks like a fish, another is a heart, another the top of a clover leaf, and one looks like a inverted triangle with a horizontal line at the bottom. I am missing one clapper. I do not wish to sell these, but am curious about them as I have looked on e-bay, and online and have not found anything remotely similar to these bells. Thank you for your time. If you need a photo, please let me know how to send it to you.
D. Johnson  

Answer
Made in London, England, by Englefields - the last traditional pewtering firm in London, now closed down. The marks were only used by Englefields in the last 35 years or so. ABPC (the pyramid is an A) is the Association of British Pewter Craftsmen, which was formed in 1970, giving an earliest possible date for these items. See http://www.abpcltd.co.uk/ for details.

So, modern, trivial novelties of no value at all, I'm afraid.