This image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseClub shaped calabash rattle covered with cloth and stitched all
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Club shaped calabash rattle covered with cloth and stitched all over with various objects, used by priest of Shango cult, Yoruba, Nigeria, West African, 1851-1920
This club-shaped rattle was used by a priest of the Shango cult from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa. Shango is the Yoruba god of thunder and is worshipped as a healing god. The priest would go into a trance-like state and, using the rattle to communicate with Shango, receive recipes for medical treatments. Treatment of the sick and diseased involved the whole community rather than just the individual. The rattle is made from a gourd called a calabash, and has cloth, shells, wood and metal stitched on to the surface.
Details
- Category:
- Ethnography and Folk Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A8957
- Materials:
- gourd, textile, shell, wood (unidentified), metal (unknown) and bone
- Measurements:
-
overall (lying flat): 118 mm x 356 mm x 122 mm, 115 mm, 0.268 kg
- type:
- rattle
- credit:
- On loan from the Wellcome Trust
