Wondrous item, rare
One name at a time may stand upon the rim. Cutting a new one requires that the old be taken out entire, a silversmith's work of a day, and the wall of the bell is thinner for every cutting it has had.
While a name stands legibly upon the rim, the bell rings once, of itself, at the hour that named person dies, wherever in the world they die and whatever lies between. It rings through wool, water, packing, a locked chest and a wall, and is heard by every creature within 300 feet of it. It gives no place and no cause.
Struck by hand while a name stands, the bell answers the state of that person: a clear note if they are living, a flat note with no ring in it if they are dead. It can be struck so once a day.
A name taken out is out, and reading the older cutting in raking light does not restore it. As this lot is offered, no name stands upon the rim. It has been struck at the pay table on that account, before witnesses, and it rang as any bell of nineteen ounces rings. Whether three characters are a name is a question this house does not undertake to answer.
Source: Provenance — The Quist Sale