Bell, The New Girl

Handmade pinch-pot bell with ceramic clapper, painted to match the outside. Hand painted with underglaze and clear glaze. The handle is shaped to represent a figure. Rings with a pleasing tone. A young woman with a black bob, a thoroughly modern girl.

Hand made and hand painted ceramic with underglaze and clear glazing.

Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 10 cm.

About the artist:
Bells are for summoning. They are rung as a call, a reminder, a wakening. They are rung to communicate, bring back the lost, set an intention, or to request attention. This functionality, verging on ritual, is what attracted Lulu to making them. She hand-builds the bells in her studio in Dorset. Each is made from scratch and hand painted. They are all unique. These examples were inspired by the inversion of the rural idyll so often depicted on souvenir and decorative pottery; industrial architectural heritage has its own beauty, in this case, like the rural idyll, tinged still with nostalgia but for a modernist or early industrial age. Lulu is an author, artist and maker. She has three published novels. The second, Salt Lick, was nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She sells handmade works under the name Seventy Seven Seas. Her inspiration for this work is ritual and folk art, objects made with the intention of creating meaning that might always remain mysterious.