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Rattles for summoning the ancestors
as used in Nigeria
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These two rattles were kept in an ancestral shrine, and traditionally used when relatives wanted to summon up the spirits of the deceased. They would grasp them by the handle and shake them so that the rattler in the slit would make a noise.
These carved wooden rattles are shaped like an elongated stylised person, with a head carved at their top. A slit in the 'body' segment contains a wooden rattling bar. The 'body' is decorated with incised zigzag designs. The handle extends below this.
In many parts of Africa, the ancestors are revered as the source of wisdom and authority, and people have various ways of trying to communicate with them. These rattles are what the people who lived in Benin in Nigeria use.
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- Online ID: 000-180-000-788-C
- Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
- Project:
National Museums Scotland Part 2
Project description View all records in project - Ref: National Museums Scotland A.1931.94
- Date: Early 20th century
- Material: Wood
Grave-posts - Dimensions: 21.75" H
- What: Grave-posts
- Subject: Woodwork
- Who:
- Where: Nigeria, Benin
- Event:
- Description: One of two carved wooden grave-posts, with a crudely carved human head on top, beneath this is the partly hollowed rattling bar of wod, found in a death-house in Uhi Benin Disict, Nigeria, Midwestern
- References:
- Sheridan, J A (ed). Heaven and Hell and Other Worlds of the Dead. Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, 2000.
- Translations:
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