The Claw Bell

I have kept several objects which remind me of our time in Mombasa. This small brass bell sat at my mother's right hand during meals. It's 4cm across and is called a claw or elephant bell, and was used to summon Saidi, who served at table. My mother wrote in the list of her possessions she made while she lived in Hastings that it is Indian and was bought in Zanzibar where she lived in an upstairs flat in a building called Paradise Mansions.

From the time she arrived in Zanzibar in 1935, she employed a man called Haji to carry out domestic chores for her such as collect her meals from the English Club, work the stove that heated the water for her bath, and carry the tea from the flat to her office at eleven each morning. Not only did he do these in Zanzibar, he also travelled to Dar-es-Salaam to look after her whenever she spent a few days there recording the minutes of the meeting of Legislative Council.

One can buy one of these on eBay for £3.50 so it's only value is sentimental. However, I wouldn't part with it as it reminds me of times long ago and a world that has gone forever.