At first, the casting of bells in Russia was done by European craftsmen. However, by the end of the 15th century, Russian craftsmen had already mastered this art. They quickly improved their skills and outperformed even their Western colleagues in both the beauty of their products and the quality of the sound.
The small church bell from the collection of the Nizhny Lomov Museum of Local Lore was made at the Bell Foundry of the Privalov Brothers in the early 20th century. The enterprise of Ivan and Konstantin Privalov, second-guild merchants, was famous far beyond their town.
It is unclear when the plant was founded. According to statistical materials for the Penza Governorate, it was established in the 1880s. However, a newspaper from 1914 stated that the company was founded in 1817. Regardless, it is known that the plant was located in the western part of Nizhny Lomov, near the village of Norovka. Later, a brick factory was built there.
In 1891, the Privalov merchants from Nizhny Lomov founded a new bell foundry. It was located three versts (about 3.2 km) from Nizhny Novgorod, in the village of Gordeyevka in Balakhna District. In 1898, a fire broke out at the foundry, and it had to be rebuilt. The enterprise was referred to as “a local factory” in the reports concerning trade at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.
The Privalov brothers specialized in casting bells of various sizes for parish churches and for sale. Both enterprises provided the owners with a good profit as the products were used by churches across the Russian Empire.
The bell from the museum collection was marked with the foundry’s identification inscription, placed in its lower part. Two bands of ornament were added in the upper and middle sections of the bell. This was the traditional “seven-leaf” design known since the 17th century. It had triangular elements along the upper edge and semicircular festoons in the lower section of the frieze. The upper frieze was mirrored in the band in the center of the bell.
It is known that the bell foundry of the Privalov brothers operated until 1917 when Konstantin Andreyevich Privalov passed away at the age of 69. He was buried at the Nizhny Lomov cemetery.
