Rattle

early 20th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 681

Seed pods, fruit shells, and nuts are used to make a large variety of rattles that are handheld or grouped together and worn on the arms, legs, or ankles to emphasize dance movements.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Rattle
Date: early 20th century
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Culture: Ndengese
Medium: Wood, fruit shell (Oncoba Spinosa)
Dimensions: Height: 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)
Classification: Idiophone-Shaken-rattle
Credit Line: Purchase, Amati Gifts, 2007
Object Number: 2007.15
Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

More Artwork

In the same gallery

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Nkisi (power figure), Kongo artist and nganga (ritual specialist), Wood, pigment, resin, iron, brass, tin, cloth, plant fiber cord, beads, cowrie shells, bone or ivory, arrows, leather, seeds, animal horn, Kongo peoples — Nkisi (power figure)
Kongo artist and nganga (ritual specialist)
19th–first half of 20th century

Rattle, Seeds, cloth, fiber, Papua New Guinea — Rattle
Papua New Guinea
late 19th–early 20th century

Bassoon, Dominique Antony Porthaux French, Maple, brass, French — Bassoon
Dominique Antony Porthaux
1790–1800

Bondjo, Ivory, wood, polychrome, Ekonda people (Konda) — Bondjo
Ekonda people (Konda)
ca. 1915

Seed Rattle, Shell, cord, Papua New Guinean (Bismarck Archipelago) — Seed Rattle
Papua New Guinean (Bismarck Archipelago)
late 19th century

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