Objects

Part of the historical collections of the South African Museum that were transferred to the South African Cultural History Museum in the 1960s, today forming part of the Social History Collections of Iziko Museums of South Africa. For years the bell was on exhibition at Koopmans-De Wet House, until is was moved to the Castle in 2004 to be incorporated into the Democracy X exhibition.

The bell originates from the Oranjezicht farm in Table Valley when it was owned by Michiel van Breda. Van Breda was a prominent member of Cape society and a member of the Burgher Council. He was also a slaveholder. During the period that he owned Oranjezicht, the gardens on the property were extended considerably. When Van Breda died in 1777 his estate included 19 male slaves, of which 11 were gardeners, originally from Bengal. Farm or slave bells were used to mark the working day for the enslaved, and regulated their lives.
The bell entered the collection of the South African Museum in 1903, until it was transferred to the South African Cultural History Museum in the 1960s. It currently forms part of the collections of the Iziko Museums of South Africa and was on exhibition in the Democracy X exhibition at the Castle of Good Hope in 2004. In 2016 the bell was on loan to the Rijksmuseum for their Good Hope exhibition. The bell is currently on exhibition at the Iziko Slave Lodge.