Raven Rattle
Former TitleRattle
CultureHaida, British Columbia, Canada
Dateca. 1830-1860
MediumWood, pigment, and iron nails
DimensionsOverall: 5 1/4 × 3 3/8 × 11 inches (13.34 × 8.57 × 27.94 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Frederic James
Object number61-74
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionRattle with stylized bird (raven?) motif. Long handle. Figure with long tongue connects to beak of second bird. The figure's head leans forward on bird's head.Gallery LabelRenowned Northwest Coast scholar Bill Holm has remarked that the raven rattle is the best known, least understood and most controversial of all Northwest Coast objects. According to the earliest recorded native authorities, rattles of this type have always been known as a chief's dancing rattle. Many scholars, however, believe the form began as a powerful shaman's object. Raven rattles are distinguished by their complex, integrated form. The overall configuration represents a raven; reclining on its back is a human whose tongue is joined with the beak of a second facing raven, symbolizing the transfer of supernatural knowledge and power. On the breast is a face of a third bird with recurved beak, which likely represents yet another manifestation of the mythic raven.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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2013.47.20