Description

Kringle Bells by P. Buckley Moss

Introduction

Kringle Bells by P. Buckley Moss is a 2000 limited, numbered lithograph featuring a cheerful Kris Kringle raising a golden handbell high above his head. Dressed in a bright red coat trimmed in white with black mittens and pointed boots, the figure stands alone against an open white background, allowing the gesture—and the bell—to become the entire story.

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory confirms Kringle Bells as Product ID 6814, an Artist Signed, Rare, limited, numbered lithograph classified under Christmas. The gallery currently documents separate Rare and Artist Signed variations.

Story Behind the Artwork

Moss builds Kringle Bells around one simple action: Kris Kringle lifting a bell as though announcing the arrival of Christmas.

The title adds playful word association with the familiar phrase “jingle bells,” while the raised bell gives the figure a sense of celebration and movement. Unlike Moss Christmas works built around villages, sleigh rides, or groups of figures, this print relies on one character and one seasonal prop.

The absence of a setting is important. It turns Kris Kringle into a graphic holiday personality rather than placing him within a literal narrative scene.

Symbols & Meaning

Bells have long served practical and ceremonial purposes: they can call people together, mark time, announce events, celebrate occasions, and accompany worship. Within Christmas culture, their sound has become closely associated with celebration and seasonal music.

In Kringle Bells, the raised bell can reasonably suggest announcement, celebration, anticipation, and Christmas cheer. These are culturally grounded readings of the visible subject rather than documented statements of Moss’s intent.

Artistic Details

The composition is strongly vertical. Kris Kringle’s raised arm carries the eye upward from his black boots and rounded red coat to the golden bell at the top of the image.

Moss limits the palette primarily to red, white, black, and gold, which keeps the small work visually direct. The warm yellow-orange bell becomes the only major color outside the traditional Santa palette, ensuring that the object named in the title receives immediate attention.

The broad white background also allows the irregular outline of the costume and the exaggerated pose to remain especially clear.

Featured Master Collections

Primary Master Collection: Christmas Traditions

This is a verified assignment. Kringle Bells appears by name in Canada Goose Gallery’s approved Christmas Traditions Master Collection, which includes Santa, holiday celebrations, and the sights and sounds associated with recurring Christmas traditions.

Supporting Master Collection: Rare & Remarkable

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory classifies Kringle Bells as Rare Art and documents both Rare and Artist Signed product variations. The Master Collection framework specifically recognizes Rare & Remarkable as the appropriate home for verified rare and special-edition formats.

Decorating Ideas

The compact 5-1/8 x 3-inch image makes Kringle Bells particularly well suited to a Christmas gallery wall, entryway, kitchen, hallway, family room, or small seasonal display.

Its simple red-white-black palette pairs easily with traditional Christmas decorating, while the golden bell provides a natural connection to brass or gold-colored holiday accents.

It can also be grouped with other Moss Kris Kringle works to create a character-focused Christmas display.

Gift Ideas

Kringle Bells is a natural gift for P. Buckley Moss collectors, Kris Kringle collectors, Christmas enthusiasts, bell collectors, or someone building a Rare Art grouping.

Its musical and celebratory subject can also make it an appealing Christmas gift for a musician, handbell ringer, choir member, or someone involved in a church music program.

About the Edition

Artist: P. Buckley Moss
Title: Kringle Bells
Year: 2000
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: Limited, numbered edition
Gallery-supplied numbered edition: 1,000
Gallery-supplied Artist Proofs: 25
Image size: 5-1/8 x 3 inches
Paper size: 8-5/8 x 6-1/2 inches
Condition: New, mint condition
Product ID: 6814
CGG classification: Rare Art; Artist Signed variation documented
Rare variation price: $50.00
Artist Signed variation price: $75.00

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory verifies the 2000 Rare, limited, numbered lithograph designation, while the current variation records separately document a Rare version at $50 and an Artist Signed version at $75.

🎨 Fun Fact:

Modern handbells developed partly because English church-bell ringers needed a quieter way to practice. Change ringing uses sets of tower bells in carefully ordered mathematical patterns, but rehearsing repeatedly in a church tower could be extremely loud for the surrounding community. Smaller handbells corresponding to the tower bells allowed ringers to practice those complicated sequences indoors with far less disturbance. That unexpected history gives the little bell in Kringle Bells a connection to a centuries-old tradition of coordinated bell ringing, not just Christmas decoration.

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🖼️ Collector’s Insight:

What distinguishes Kringle Bells is the clarity of its single-character composition. Kris Kringle’s entire pose is organized around the raised bell, with the arm creating a strong vertical line and the gold-colored bell acting as the only major departure from the familiar red, white, and black Christmas palette. For collectors, the work also carries two documented edition-based points of interest: Canada Goose Gallery classifies it as Rare Art and separately inventories an Artist Signed variation. Its explicit placement within Christmas Traditions gives it an equally clear seasonal relationship to the broader Moss collection.

Why Buy from Canada Goose Gallery

Canada Goose Gallery specializes in P. Buckley Moss artwork and maintains detailed inventory records for edition type, signature variation, condition, and subject. Kringle Bells is documented as a Rare, limited, numbered lithograph, with a separately identified Artist Signed version also represented in current gallery inventory.

Continue Exploring

Continue with Canada Goose Gallery’s:

• Christmas Traditions
• Rare & Remarkable
• Certificate of Authenticity FAQ
• The Collections Hub
• P. Buckley Moss Rare Prints
• Kringle Dance
• Kringle’s Air Noel
• Kringle’s Swing
• Kris Kringle
• Kris Kringle’s Angel
• Kris Kringle’s Snowman

Suggested Categories & Subjects:

• P. Buckley Moss Fine Art Prints
• P. Buckley Moss Rare Prints
• Christmas
• Kris Kringle
• Hand Signed Art

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“Ring in Christmas.”