The display at the church, now a museum and not currently consecrated, reflects Estonia's tumultuous history. The numerous wars and destruction other larger powers opted to hold on Estonian and other smaller countries' territories led to many bells being hidden away.

This could include them being buried under the ground, or concealed in other ways to avoid the destruction or looting uncivilized invading armies often took it upon themselves to mete out.

"Rinvaade" showcased three bells in-studio, presented by art historian Juhan Kilumets. These will be on display at the Niguliste church on Rüütli, in Tallinn's Old Town, too.

"If you take the glass elevator at Niguliste Church, press [floor] number two and step out of the elevator. You will end up in the bell room, where there is a small shelter for 'homeless' bells, altogether about 10 bells," Kilumets said.

Bell rescue is a calling of Kilumets's, to the extent that he recently purchased a rare bell via an online auction.

"I don't collect them anymore — the time for collecting is over. Now I simply pick them up when they appear somewhere. I pick them up, not to keep them at home in a cupboard or on the mantelpiece, but to give them a second chance," he went on.

Bells even being found buried comes as no surprise to him. "Once a year there's always some such news that a bell has appeared for sale here or there, or has been found in the ground. The question is, what kind of bell it is in that particular case. Sometimes your mouth really does drop open in surprise."

This is for practical as well as ornamental purposes, he added.

"If we talk about people who consciously go out looking for bells in order to press them back into use, then I may indeed be the only one, or one of only a few. But there are many people who simply want beautiful and old things, so the auctions can also turn into a proper tussle," he explained.

In the latest case, however, no such tussle was required. "Aside from me, there was one serious bidder, so the two of us wrestled there a bit over a thousand euros," he noted, ahead of submitting the winning bid.

"The joy was great. Every church bell that is added to our population, regardless of age, is a big thing." The latest acquisition dates to the late Middle Ages and, crucially, is also intact, and so can be tolled, Kilumets noted.

Should anyone chance upon what appears to be a church bell or large bell of any kind, in some unused corner of a barn or cellar or anywhere else, they should always call it in, the expert said. Given the passing of time, the persons who originally hid it away may no longer be with us, also. "Even if it doesn't lead to a transaction, it is important that the existence of the bell get cataloged in the bell register. Bells do not necessarily have to be bought and sold, although there is nothing to say they shouldn't either," he concluded.

Cast in bronze, one of the bells he presented to "Rinvaade" weighed 17kg, while another dated to 1795. They all rang true, at different pitches.

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