''Temple Bell'', also known as ''Japanese Temple Bell'', is a bell and bronze sculpture by Suzuki Magoemon, installed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Back Bay Fens, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Cast in 1675, the bell was originally installed in Manpukuji Temple, in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

, Japan, before being salvaged by USS ''Boston'' sailors. It was presented to the City of Boston by the sailors in 1945, before being officially presented by Japan as a symbol of peace in 1953. The bell was also previously installed in Boston Common.

Description

The cylindrical bronze sculpture is approximately tall and has a diameter of . It rests on a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

base that measures approximately by by . It features etchings of Japanese figures and writings.

History

The bell was cast in 1675. It was originally installed in

, Japan's Manpukuji Temple. The bell was salvaged from a scrap yard (where it had been taken to be melted down for ammunition) by sailors from USS ''Boston'', then presented to the City of

in 1945. It was officially presented to the city by Japan in 1953 as a symbol of peace. The work was previously installed in Boston Common. It was restored in 1992, and surveyed by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in 1993.

References

External links

* 1670s sculptures Boston Common Bronze sculptures in Massachusetts Fenway–Kenmore Granite sculptures in the United States Individual bells in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Boston Buddhist art {{Massachusetts-sculpture-stub