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Round rattles such as this have been used by both shamans and ritualists, and are connected most commonly with the Tsimshian groups (c.f. Holm 1987, pp. 128-129, 162-163). The style of the face in shallow relief on one side of this rattle is not far from the sensuous human faces seen on Tsimshian frontlets, and shares some characteristics with masks from the area as well. The lips are thin and the slightly open mouth is not wide. Naturalistic eye sockets are bordered underneath by firm cheekbone ridges, and the narrow nose has small, slightly flared nostrils. Many kinds of Tsimshian carvings share these sculptural traits. Thin eyebrows arch over highly expressive eyes, and the warm glow of the golden-colored wood gives the face an animated, lifelike quality. The reverse side once featured a complex flat design in black, red, and blue, the deep ultramarine of the English laundry product, Reckett's Blue. This painting has lost its adhesion over the years, but the wood is slightly stained where it was once applied. Varying amounts of salmon-egg binder in the paint mixes affects both the tone and relative flatness of the color as well as the paint film's ability to stick to the wood (Holm 1992, PC). Dense woods like this from deciduous maples, alders, or birches represent a challenge to the paint binder, and many fine, old rattles of this type have lost their coloration. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Art des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord dans la Collection d'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions d'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
ProvenanceJames Economos, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Stefan Edlis, Chicago, Illinois
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Tangible visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.258-259, fig.390.
Perriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Art des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy edition d'Art, 1999, p. 124, fig. 99.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.356-357.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 391.
Culture
Tsimshian
Rattle
Date1840-1860
DimensionsOverall: 11 × 5 1/4 × 4 1/4 in. (27.9 × 13.3 × 10.8 cm)
Object numberT0173
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe high, swishing sound of thin hardwood rattles is pleasing to spirits, and when invoking spiritual assistance through song or prayer the rattle has always been an important ritualist's tool. It is the responsibility of shamans to manipulate the spirit world to affect its expression on the physical plane, whether seeing the future, healing illness, or affecting the weather. Northwest Coast ceremony, even that which has become a ritualized performance, has in its heritage a strong shamanic element. In some coastal traditions of the winter dances, (such as among the Kwakwaka`wakw) the members of secret societies are referred to as "doctors" ['paxal]. In acknowledging the spiritual presence and controlling a dancer's expression of their spirit possession, the rattles carried by ceremonial attendants are said to have a calming effect on the unseen.Round rattles such as this have been used by both shamans and ritualists, and are connected most commonly with the Tsimshian groups (c.f. Holm 1987, pp. 128-129, 162-163). The style of the face in shallow relief on one side of this rattle is not far from the sensuous human faces seen on Tsimshian frontlets, and shares some characteristics with masks from the area as well. The lips are thin and the slightly open mouth is not wide. Naturalistic eye sockets are bordered underneath by firm cheekbone ridges, and the narrow nose has small, slightly flared nostrils. Many kinds of Tsimshian carvings share these sculptural traits. Thin eyebrows arch over highly expressive eyes, and the warm glow of the golden-colored wood gives the face an animated, lifelike quality. The reverse side once featured a complex flat design in black, red, and blue, the deep ultramarine of the English laundry product, Reckett's Blue. This painting has lost its adhesion over the years, but the wood is slightly stained where it was once applied. Varying amounts of salmon-egg binder in the paint mixes affects both the tone and relative flatness of the color as well as the paint film's ability to stick to the wood (Holm 1992, PC). Dense woods like this from deciduous maples, alders, or birches represent a challenge to the paint binder, and many fine, old rattles of this type have lost their coloration. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Art des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord dans la Collection d'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions d'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
ProvenanceJames Economos, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Stefan Edlis, Chicago, Illinois
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Tangible visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.258-259, fig.390.
Perriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Art des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy edition d'Art, 1999, p. 124, fig. 99.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.356-357.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 391.
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