Dinner Gong

Artisan: M.A. Chandler
Date: 1990
Inscriptions: signed and dated ‘MA Chandler 1990’ (scratched into back of gong)
Dimensions: 64 x 49 x 26 mm; 2 ½ x 2 x 1 inches (stand) (height x width x depth); 14 x 4 mm; ½ x ⅛ inches (mallet) (length x diameter); 22 x 3 mm; ⅞ x ⅛ inches (gong) (diameter x thickness)
Inventory number: 2022.056
Intended Room: Dining Room
Category: Furniture

Provenance: Bought in the mid-1990s by a private collector; and by descent to her niece, Claire Lees, of Matlock in Derbyshire. Purchased from Claire by us via eBay in 2022.

Dinner is served! How better to summon the family from around the house than with this gong, complete with a tiny brass mallet? This piece, which we bought on eBay, is beautifully detailed, from the delicately turned legs of the stand, to a tiny blue loop of thread which allows you to hang the mallet on a miniscule hook at the side of the gong. But we simply don’t know anything about the artisan, M.A. Chandler, who scratched a signature and date of 1990 into the back of the gong. Internet research has proved futile, so we’d love any help that anyone can provide.