| NW Coast rattles This page is for reference purposes I love these rattles and created a page that I can access to reference the images I sold the rattles I used to have and hope to some day collect more |
| Sotheby's - New York American Indian Art Auction Date : May 13, 2005 Lot 81 : PROPERTY FROM THE ALEXANDER M. BING COLLECTION A TLINGIT POLYCHROME WOOD SHAMAN'S RATTLE Description of classic form, in two sections, with hide binding on the grip, a conventionalized birdlike face with hooked beak and form line details on the underside, the body carved in the form of a flying raven, holding a representation of the sun in its slightly parted beak, its backswept wings supporting a shaman, with open mouth and long tongue projecting into the mouth of another avian creature; a fine aged patina overall with small areas of wear from use. CATALOGUE NOTE Cf. Brown (1995: 52 and 53) for a discussion of raven rattles. Also see, Sotheby's, May, 1999, lot 391. Dimensions length 13in. Estimate:$ 20,000 - $ 30,000 Price Realized:$ 36,000 |
| Christie's - New York American Indian Art Auction Date : Jan 13, 2005 Lot 250 : A NORTHWEST COAST CHIEF'S WOOD CEREMONIAL DANCE RATTLE Description of usual form, with red and black pigments, the body carved in the form of a flying raven with a small disc (probably representing the sun) in its slightly parted beak, its head thrust sharply upward with openwork ears supporting the head of a shaman, in a reclining posture, with mask-like facial features, attenuated angular limbs and long tongue protruding into the mouth of a frog, its back end held in the beak of an inward facing bird, the raven's belly carved with a hawk's face, with hooked beak and formline details, cylindrical handle inscribed 59.31 Length: 11 1/2 in. (29.1 cm.) Estimate:$ 6,000 - $ 8,000 Price Realized:$ 0 |
| Sotheby's - New York African and Oceanic Art Auction Date : Nov 16, 2001 Lot 16 : A Northwest Coast ceremonial wood rattle Description A Northwest Coast ceremonial wood rattle length 15 1/4 in. (38.7cm.) representing a mythological raven in flight, comprised of two joined sections, the upper, with flattened backswept wings, supporting a reclining shaman figure, a frog resting on his chest and receiving his outstretched tongue, the lower, with a highly stylized avian-like face, with pronounced hooked beak, the whole finely incised in shallow and sunk relief and decorated with black, green and vermilion red pigments; with the torn remnants of a Beasley label on the underside of its right wing. Dimensions length 15 1/4 in. (38.7 Estimate:$ 25,000 - $ 35,000 Price Realized:$ 35,250 Provenance Ernest Smith, 1929 H. G. Beasley John Wise William A. McCarty-Cooper, New York Christie's, New York, May 19, 1992, lot 23 |
| Sotheby's - New York The Collection of Frederick W. Hughes Auction Date : Oct 10, 2001 Lot 17 : A Tlingit polychrome wood Shaman's rattle Description A Tlingit polychrome wood Shaman's rattle length 12 3/4 in. (32.4cm.) Steve C. Brown, Native Visions, 1998, p. 88: "...the classic composition of the raven rattle is evidently a very early archetype that has undergone a long and broadly distributed development. The oldest, most complete examples extant illustrate that the conventions of the major forms - the raven's head and body, the raised tailfeathers (usually elaborated into a second bird's face), the reclining human or humanoid figure, and the face on the raven's breast - were already well established at the onset of the historic period...The origin of the raven rattle tradition is located by oral history on the Nass River, in the Nishga territory of the northern British Columbia coast." Dimensions length 12 3/4 in. (32.4 Estimate:$ 10,000 - $ 15,000 Price Realized:$ 14,400 |
| Raven Rattle mid 1800s www.carnegiemuseums.org Raven rattles conventionally depict a complex scene in which a human reclines on the back of a raven while his tongue connects with the tongue of a frog. Meanwhile, a second bird's head, formed from the raven's tale, holds the frog. High-ranking men carried these rattles with the scene inverted as they danced ceremoniously. Maple? (Acer sp.), mineral and commercial paints, sinew, pebbles?; 3178-2 |
| TLINGIT CEREMONIAL WOOD DANCE RATTLE Item noP0479 www.petitmusee.com Of classic form. The body carved in the form of a flying raven, its head sharply turned upward. In his slightly parted beak holding a small rectangular implement (probably a representation of the sun). Its flattened wings supporting a reclining Shaman with open mouth and his short tongue protuding into the mouth of a frog, which in turn is held in the long beak of an other bird-like creature; the underbelly carved with a highly stylized avian-like face with pronounced hooked beak. The rattle is very finely carved with as beautiful patina with green, black and vermillon pigmentations. There is a minor hairline crack at the base near the handle and a small area of Native repair. Côte Nord Ouest, North West Coast Longueur: 32,4cm Length: 12 3/4" Circa 1850-1875. P479 (SHLRRYDK) Provenance: from a South Californian collector, who bought the rattle from a New York dealer in 1978/9. (Similar one to be found in "Tangible Visions", by A. WArdwell, plate 395; Brown & Al., 1995, pp. 52-53 ; "Indian Art" by Holm & Reid, plates 77, 78 and 79) |
| www.3corneredgallery.com MAKER: Haida or Tlingit TITLE: Raven rattle DATE: mid 19th century PLACE: ALASKA DIMENSIONS: 31.8 cm |
| Object # 951 Object name Raven Rattle Culture Tlingit, Sitka Made by Tlingit, Sitka Material/Technique Wood, Carved Motif Raven Dimensions L: 32.0 cm, W: 11.5 cm, D: 12.0 cm Date DATE MADE 1909; Label The raven rattle is a traditional part of the paraphernalia of a dancing chief, which also includes an elaborate headdress, a robe, an apron fringed with rattling pendants, and leggings. In use, the rattle was often held belly up in the dancer's extended hand and shaken rapidly and continuously throughout the dance. Occasionally rattles were used in pairs. Many of them were made, and there are a great number in museum and private collections. Most of these rattles depict ravens, but there are a few that represent other birds--hawks or thunderbirds, puffins or petrels among them. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987) Publications Oxford University Press. "Aesthetics and Difference," book edited by Emory Elliott. See Article 'Aesthetics Again? The Pleasures and the Dangers' by Paul Lauter. 2001 Source Mr. George T. Emmons Credit Purchase from George T. Emmons Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture |
| http://www.scva.org.uk/collections/robertandlisa/index.php?collection=73&collection_object=56 |
| Chief’s raven rattle Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit (att.) Collected by George Davidson; acc. 1945. 2–19094 Raven rattles, covered with shamanistic motifs, were used by chiefs during ceremonies such as totem pole raisings, naming-giving, funerals, and feasts. http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/exhibitions/cent/gallery2_1_2.html |
| Hardwood, hide binding and paint. 10 5/8" L, ca. 1780-1800 Perhaps the most graceful and delicate object created by NW Coast ceremonialists, the Raven rattle is also a very old and respected object of tradition. Certain extremely old and brittle ones exist, likely collected from graves, which suggest that the image usually portrayed is one that is very ancient, though its specific origin is unknown. This arrangement of raven, human, and sometimes frog has been reinterpreted by successive generations of artists, most of whom leave the core image absolutely intact, while rendering their own unique variations of the details thereon. This example is a particularly small and compactly designed one. It bears the most common raven rattle features: the form line face with a received beak on the belly, the tail of the raven raised up and elaborated into a long-beaked bird face, and the reclining human figure with its tongue held in the beak of the tail-bird. In this version, the tail is set more forward on the raven¹s body than on many others, and the body and legs of the human are correspondingly short. The face of the human is handled as a softly-arched, formline-type structure, the features of the face quite shallowly relieved. The head of the raven is also shorter than many, yet still has been cut through up the middle, isolating the neck and opening a space between the ears. This traditional structure harmonizes with the delicate piercing on the back of the raven, and removes unwanted weight from the wood which may affect the rattle¹s sound. The flat design embellishment is of an early style, most likely Tlingit or Haida work. The worn and faded pigments and other surface patination suggest that this rattle is quite old, held by a succession of high-ranking chiefs of clans at ceremonial gatherings as a symbol of wealth and prestige, as an accompaniment to songs and dance. Provenance : George Terasaki http://www.northwestcoastindian.com/rattles.html |
| NA-2509 Northwest Coast Wood Raven Rattle Tlingit Tribe, circa last quarter of the 19th Century. The classic chief's raven rattle depicts the human lying on the back of the raven (with openwork beak), sharing his tongue with a frog, which in turn is held in the openwork beak of a kingfisher. The underbelly of the raven is also carved and painted with the faces of a hawk and a bear, the tail serves as the handle. The details are in red and black native and trade pigments on natural wood. Provenance: Collected by Henry G. Brock of Philadelphia between 1905 and 1920, and has descended in the Brock family since that time. Length: 13 in. (33 cm.) Price: $15,950 http://www.anthroposgallery.com/gallery/ravenrattle02.html |
| http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/haida/images/haacp12b.jpg |
| The Rattle Raven was an important ceremonial object among North American Pacific Coast Native Americans. The Raven was a mythological hero/trickster who stole daylight from the Chief of Heaven, marking the beginning of the world, humankind, and consciousness. The reclining human/bear exchanging a tongue with a frog represented a shamanistic transfer of spiritual and healing powers." -- Description of the logo (designed by Just Imagine!) for the 4th World Congress on Pain (Seattle, Washington, 1984) [IASP United States chapter] IASP Online Archives http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/iasp/ |
| Images below are from: http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/tli.html |
| Shaman with Rattle, Charms, Bird's Down, 1888 |
| Rand African Art home page |
| Raven Rattle, cedar, University of Iowa, Iowa City |
| Raven Rattle, cedar, Field Museum, Chicago |
| Raven Rattle, 1945, Phoebe Hearst, Johnson Photo |
| Oyster Catcher Shaman's Rattle, American Museum of Nat. Hist., N.Y |
Alaska Science Forum
November 15, 1989
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF9/952.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messages in a Raven Rattle
Article #952
by Carla Helfferich
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article is provided as a public service by the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, in cooperation with the UAF research
community. Carla Helfferich is a science writer at the Institute.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first raven rattle collected by non-Indians, the oldest one known to anthropologists, was acquired by Russians from the Tlingit Indians of Alaska in
1804. It has the classic form of the rattle above. Both the forms and their relationships are important. This one includes a human, a frog, and a
long-billed bird (the raven's "tail"). It is possibly a kingfisher, a bird that makes a rattling noise. Note the face with recurved beak on the raven's stomach
(Raven Rattle No. A2467, University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology).
Recently I had the chance to spend an afternoon in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, home of a splendid collection of
Pacific Northwest Native art. It's a place worth a pilgrimage. The spectacular building, designed by Canada's famous architect Arthur Erickson, echoes
themes borrowed from a Haida longhouse; it's constructed so that one gallery is tall enough to house full-size totem poles.
Despite the magnificence of the many gigantic carvings, my attention kept turning to carvings of a smaller sort--the raven rattles. Superbly detailed,
always beautiful though often highly stylized, these captivating objects looked to my untrained eye like variations on a theme, but I couldn't decipher
what the theme actually was.
Fortunately, I found a slim publication at the museum gift shop: The Raven Rattle, UBC Museum Note No. 6, by Marjorie M. Halpin. From it, I learned
much about raven rattles and what some specialists think they mean.
The first one known to the outside world was acquired by the Russians from Alaska Tlingits in 1804, but tradition among the tribes places the rattle's
origin with the Niska Indians, a Tsimshian-speaking people of British Columbia. By the time most of the rattles now in museums were collected, between
1880 and 1930, raven rattles could be found nearly everywhere along the Northwest coast.
The classic raven rattle compresses many stylized animals into one object. The main figure is a raven, usually with its beak slightly open and holding a
small box. On its back is a platform with a reclining figure, usually a human; a frog lies atop that figure, its tongue extended into the human's mouth. A
monster's face occupies the forepart of the raven's deep belly. It's an odd construct, sharing aspects of whale, bird, and perhaps salmon. Behind it,
facing upside down and backwards, is another bird. This is apparently a kingfisher, a bird with a rattling cry. Its beak melds into what would be the
raven's tail, as the handle for the rattle.
Evidently the rattles had important ceremonial uses, but the people collecting them were more interested in their artistic value than in their meaning
and function. The early records noted little other than that raven rattles were generally used by chiefs, especially in ceremonies when they were
transferring some of their spiritual power to younger people. By the time ethnographers grew seriously interested in their significance, the people who
made them had forgotten their original import--or were unwilling to tell the uninitiated.
To understand these beautiful objects, scientists studied the rattles in light of what was known of the belief systems of Northwest Coast peoples. The
significant point was what changed from rattle to rattle and what remained the same.
Most consistent was the raven, always with the box in its beak. Raven, the great trickster and transformer, stole daylight from heaven and brought it to
a world previously dark: the box holds the light of day, metaphorically the dawning of human consciousness and the beginning of the world as it is
known.
Next most invariant was the sea monster on the belly of the rattle. Fortunately for the scholars, it was a creature also found on boxes and chiefs'
frontlet headdresses, and a fair bit was understood about its symbolic meaning. Its elements of fish, whale, and bird mirror the richness of life
supported by the sea, and point toward the sources of human wealth.
What changed most was the tableau of small figures atop the rattle. The kingfisher sometimes moved to the top of the rattle, holding the frog in its
mouth; sometimes the frog became another creature altogether. On some rattles, the human figure became bearlike; on others, otters and even a dog
appeared. Most still showed the connecting tongue, or tonguelike connections of some sort. The message related to exchanges.
The end result, the ethnographers realized, was a set of interlocking symbols as understandable as a red light at an intersection, if more complicated.
When a chief shook his rattle at a young initiate, the rattle gave an entire lesson about a person's correct understanding of the world: Remember, you
have the gift of daylight within. You are a conscious person. The source of human support is the great sea, but the routes for exchange of the wealth it
provides may properly vary. Patterns of connection change; the basics of life are fixed.
No wonder such a powerful message was held by a chief's hand. Some of the power remains, even in a museum case. Look for raven rattles in
Alaska's museums (the University of Alaska Fairbanks, for example, has one on permanent display) and see if you agree
November 15, 1989
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF9/952.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messages in a Raven Rattle
Article #952
by Carla Helfferich
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article is provided as a public service by the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, in cooperation with the UAF research
community. Carla Helfferich is a science writer at the Institute.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first raven rattle collected by non-Indians, the oldest one known to anthropologists, was acquired by Russians from the Tlingit Indians of Alaska in
1804. It has the classic form of the rattle above. Both the forms and their relationships are important. This one includes a human, a frog, and a
long-billed bird (the raven's "tail"). It is possibly a kingfisher, a bird that makes a rattling noise. Note the face with recurved beak on the raven's stomach
(Raven Rattle No. A2467, University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology).
Recently I had the chance to spend an afternoon in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, home of a splendid collection of
Pacific Northwest Native art. It's a place worth a pilgrimage. The spectacular building, designed by Canada's famous architect Arthur Erickson, echoes
themes borrowed from a Haida longhouse; it's constructed so that one gallery is tall enough to house full-size totem poles.
Despite the magnificence of the many gigantic carvings, my attention kept turning to carvings of a smaller sort--the raven rattles. Superbly detailed,
always beautiful though often highly stylized, these captivating objects looked to my untrained eye like variations on a theme, but I couldn't decipher
what the theme actually was.
Fortunately, I found a slim publication at the museum gift shop: The Raven Rattle, UBC Museum Note No. 6, by Marjorie M. Halpin. From it, I learned
much about raven rattles and what some specialists think they mean.
The first one known to the outside world was acquired by the Russians from Alaska Tlingits in 1804, but tradition among the tribes places the rattle's
origin with the Niska Indians, a Tsimshian-speaking people of British Columbia. By the time most of the rattles now in museums were collected, between
1880 and 1930, raven rattles could be found nearly everywhere along the Northwest coast.
The classic raven rattle compresses many stylized animals into one object. The main figure is a raven, usually with its beak slightly open and holding a
small box. On its back is a platform with a reclining figure, usually a human; a frog lies atop that figure, its tongue extended into the human's mouth. A
monster's face occupies the forepart of the raven's deep belly. It's an odd construct, sharing aspects of whale, bird, and perhaps salmon. Behind it,
facing upside down and backwards, is another bird. This is apparently a kingfisher, a bird with a rattling cry. Its beak melds into what would be the
raven's tail, as the handle for the rattle.
Evidently the rattles had important ceremonial uses, but the people collecting them were more interested in their artistic value than in their meaning
and function. The early records noted little other than that raven rattles were generally used by chiefs, especially in ceremonies when they were
transferring some of their spiritual power to younger people. By the time ethnographers grew seriously interested in their significance, the people who
made them had forgotten their original import--or were unwilling to tell the uninitiated.
To understand these beautiful objects, scientists studied the rattles in light of what was known of the belief systems of Northwest Coast peoples. The
significant point was what changed from rattle to rattle and what remained the same.
Most consistent was the raven, always with the box in its beak. Raven, the great trickster and transformer, stole daylight from heaven and brought it to
a world previously dark: the box holds the light of day, metaphorically the dawning of human consciousness and the beginning of the world as it is
known.
Next most invariant was the sea monster on the belly of the rattle. Fortunately for the scholars, it was a creature also found on boxes and chiefs'
frontlet headdresses, and a fair bit was understood about its symbolic meaning. Its elements of fish, whale, and bird mirror the richness of life
supported by the sea, and point toward the sources of human wealth.
What changed most was the tableau of small figures atop the rattle. The kingfisher sometimes moved to the top of the rattle, holding the frog in its
mouth; sometimes the frog became another creature altogether. On some rattles, the human figure became bearlike; on others, otters and even a dog
appeared. Most still showed the connecting tongue, or tonguelike connections of some sort. The message related to exchanges.
The end result, the ethnographers realized, was a set of interlocking symbols as understandable as a red light at an intersection, if more complicated.
When a chief shook his rattle at a young initiate, the rattle gave an entire lesson about a person's correct understanding of the world: Remember, you
have the gift of daylight within. You are a conscious person. The source of human support is the great sea, but the routes for exchange of the wealth it
provides may properly vary. Patterns of connection change; the basics of life are fixed.
No wonder such a powerful message was held by a chief's hand. Some of the power remains, even in a museum case. Look for raven rattles in
Alaska's museums (the University of Alaska Fairbanks, for example, has one on permanent display) and see if you agree
| Rand African Art home page |
