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- In 1988, 1989, and 1990, the Chinese bell was again mentioned a number of times in Victoria newspapers, which discussed its removal indoors and subsequent conservation. The newspapers related that the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, concerned with preserving the Chinese bell for future generations petitioned City Hall to have it removed from its outdoor location in Beacon Hill Park and placed inside the Art Gallery to protect it from vandalism and the effects of weather. It was pointed out that some time in the pasta cutting torch had been taken to the bell, creating a fairly large gap at its mouth. As a result of this act, large cracks developed horizontally from this space due perhaps to metal fatigue or stress caused by vandals swinging the bell high and hard against the pillars of the bell pavilion.
Furthermore, the bell had heavily rusted since its placement in the park in 1904. It was felt that if the bell remained outdoors exposing the iron to the oxygen and moisture of Victoria's maritime climate for another 80 years, that it would continue to corrode and cause further deterioration of the fine decorations on it. By moving the bell indoors, stabilizing the iron, maintaining the proper relative humidity, and covering it with a coating or sealant of mirathane (a lacquer-like substance used as a protective cover), it was felt that the bell could be preserved indefinitely. In early 1989, the iron bell was moved inside the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and in 1990 it was treated to remove the heavy corrosion and paint residue covering it. This conservation cleaning, which was accomplished by using a new technique of dry "plastic" blasting, was funded by the B.C. Heritage Trust.
The other Chinese bell taken at the same time by HMS Pique, now at Admiralty House, Devonport, England. Lt. Cdr. John Crellin with bell.
THE TWO CHINESE BELLS TAKEN BY H.M.S. PIQUE
The Chinese bell in Victoria was actually one of two bells which crew members of H.M.S. Pique removed from China soon after the Boxer Rebellion (1900).3 The stories of how and from where these bells were obtained seem to be closely intertwined and it is hard to determine which bell belongs to which story, as we will see.
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