Cleveland Museum of Art

Rattle Staff (ukhuhre)

Date

1900s

Medium

Wood, paint, cowrie shells, and plant fiber

Culture

Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, member(s) of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers) guild

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Rattle staffs ( ukhuhrẹ ) are instruments of memory and sound. Though this staff represented a single elite man, it evokes the individuals in his lineage. Inspired by bamboo, it is divided into segments that link three carved men dressed in coral-beaded finery. Benin courtiers still carry these staffs during celebrations and rituals. By banging the staff on the ground, a rattling sound emanates from its open center, where a wooden cylinder rolls freely. The noise alerts ancestral spirits to prayers offered on their behalf. When not in use, they are stored on ancestral altars. Rattle staffs ( ukhuhrẹ ) like this are still used in the Benin Kingdom today.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.