Bouchut bell for Wignacourt Museum

An 18th century bell that was previously in the façade bell cot of the Nativity of the Virgin church in Mtahleb was recently presented to John Azzopardi, curator of the Wignacourt Museum, by Baron Carmel Apap Bologna Inguanez.

The rural church of Mtahleb is a jus patronatus of the Inguanez family. The presentation was made on the initiative of Rev. Canon Carmelo Cefai, who was the rector of the church for 55 years and wanted to secure the better preservation of the old bell, made by master founder Aloisio Bouchut.

The bell now forms part of a small collection of bells on permanent display at the Wignacourt Museum of St Paul's collegiate church in Rabat.

Prof. Apap Bologna emphasised the old links between the Inguanez family and the Church and the commitment of the family to culture.

The presentation took place after a thorough conservation treatment on the bell by the fully qualified campanologist and conservator-restorer Kenneth Cauchi.

Mr Cauchi explained that it was worth repairing the bell, which is cracked through its sound bow, because after diagnosis of the crack formation the indications were that the crack was due to a brittle alloy composition. The bell has been out of use for almost 50 years after a set of two new bells were commissioned in the 1950s The restoration included the painstaking removal of paint droplets from the surface of the bell, to expose the noble bronze patina. The bell was further coated with a corrosion inhibitor while the mineralised remains of the original clapper have been preserved to protect the bell's authenticity. It has been presented sitting on its lip since it is toneless because of the crack on its sound bow.

Mr Cauchi identified the bell to be one of the least known works cast by the Master Founder of the Order's Ferreria, Aloisio Bouchut, sometime during his working lifespan between 1738 and 1762.

Bouchut had a meticulous and exact character which made him one of the most promising founders of the Ferreria. In 1725 he was sent to Barcelona for five years' apprenticeship in bronze casting. He is probably best known for casting the then largest bell for the Maltese Islands in 1739 for the Matrix church, now the Gozo Cathedral.

This was followed by a direct order in 1747 from Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto for a bell double its size and weight for St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

This particular bell is among the finest sounding locally cast bells on the island. It tonally rivals its largest sister cast for St John's in 1748 also by Bouchut and weighing a staggering seven tons, once again made on the direct order of Grand Master Pinto.

Among other known works by Bouchut one finds the Grand Master Vilhena monument in Floriana.

Bouchut was the rector of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception at the church of St Francis in Valletta. He died some time after 1762 and was buried in the same church.