Raven rattle

Albert Edward Edenshaw

ca. 1850 · Wood, pigment, glass beads and vegetal fiber · The American Wing

Raven rattles, carried in dances by men of high rank, traditionally feature a raven, a secondary raven’s face, and a human figure reclining on the raven’s back. Here, the human figure has a bear’s or wolf’s head and, on the underside, a tiny frog sits at the bottom of the face on the raven’s breast. This inventive design is attributed to Albert Edward Edenshaw, uncle of the renowned Haida artist Charles Edenshaw.

Artist

Albert Edward Edenshaw

Date

ca. 1850

Medium

Wood, pigment, glass beads and vegetal fiber

Culture

Haida, Native American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2019