Rattle

Art Historical Context

This intricately carved wooden rattle, to around 1880, hails from the Native American cultures of the Haida or Tsimshian peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Standing 11½ inches tall and 6 inches in diameter, is crafted from wood, adorned with pigment for vibrant coloration, and features string elements, classifying it as a shaken idiophone—a percussion instrument that produces sound through vibration of its own materials when shaken. Prominent faces, likely carved into the wood, evoke the rich symbolic iconography of Northwest Coast artistry, where such motifs often represented ancestral s...