I found the maker of the large crotal bell.
William Barton III (1762-1849)
W B or B W maker's mark on petal bells.
William Barton was listed as an "artificer" in an early census. (3) He may possibly have been making sleigh bells as early as the 1790s in New York state. (6) By 1808, he had built a foundry in East Hampton, Connecticut, to produce hand and sleigh bells. (9) These bells were smoothed by hand on a lathe. In 1816, the original foundry was destroyed by fire, and a new foundry was constructed.
In 1826, Barton moved his foundry to Cairo, New York, and resumed operations with two of his sons William IV and Jason. William Bevin was an indentured servant at the Cairo foundry (see Bevin Brothers, below). Barton applied for a pension in 1833 and presumably retired at that time. (19) More....
William and his wife Clarissa Betts (b about 1767, d 1851 or 185
had eleven children, although two died young. (3) Their children included Nancy, William IV, Clarissa, Hubbard, Hiram, Almira, Julia, Philura, and Jason (9) and Robert who died in infancy and Barzillia (19). As adults, all of his surviving sons made bells of various kinds.
Some sources credit Barton with making the first one-piece cast sleigh bell about 1809 (1, 9), but this is just an interesting fable. One-piece crotals were made in the UK as early as the 1500s. (
One source also suggests that some bells with the W B maker's mark may have been made by his father Captain Barton. (6)
Having seen many WB bells, I do know the design of WB bells varied greatly over time. The earliest bells with the "WB" maker's mark look similar to elegant British "rumblers" made in the late 1700s and very early 1800s. This was the era in which when Barton's father and Barton himself would have been making sleigh bells, so it is likely that both men were influenced by British designs. (5) Later WB bells, while still attractive, are not as ornately detailed. Except for the WB mark, these bells are indistinguishable from ones made by Barton's sons Hiram and/or Hubbard (see below). (5)
I cannot confirm whether this variation was due to two men, father and son, who both made sleigh bells. It may also have been that William Barton III was willing to experiment and innovate, and the design of his bells evolved over time.
