A pigmented wood Tsimshian Chief’s ceremonial ‘Raven’ rattle

Canada, British Columbia, circa 1860-1880
 
L. 29.5 cm
 
This finely detailed rattle, crafted from pigmented wood in red and black, was made by the Tsimshian, an indigenous group of people with roots in the north-western region of British Columbia, Canada. It was a matrilineal society, in which children would inherit their lineage or clan affiliation from their mothers. There were four lineages: Raven, Wolf, Eagle, and Fireweed. Their society was divided in three main classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. The nobility included the immediate family of the chief.
 
Raven rattles are a unique kind of ceremonial instrument, shaken rhythmically to accompany ritual performances of chiefs. The composition exists of a raven with a human figure on his back. Incorporated in the raven’s tail is another bird’s head which holds a frog in his beak. The tongue of the frog makes contact with the human figure. This union forms the bridge through which the magic force flows. The belly of the raven has the structure of a face. The use of black and red decoration and rows of dashing are typical of the mid nineteenth century.
 
The raven, a central figure in Tsimshian mythology, holds a position of great importance. It is believed to bring light and life into the world, symbolized by the small ball held in the mouth of the raven. It is believed to be a bridge between the human and spiritual world. Power in Tsimshian society was derived from encounters between the ancestors and spiritual beings that controlled all resources. It has been suggested that the raven/human imagery of these rattles illustrates Raven the Creator's own self-creation. Nass-shaki-yeil (Raven-at-the-head-of-the-Nass) was the keeper of all the light in the world and was often depicted as a huge bird with a completely recurved beak. Raven entered the body of the daughter of Nass-shaki-yeil by disguising himself as a hemlock needle in her drinking water and was reborn as her raven/human child. The raven child later stole the light from his grandfather and released it to the world. Nass-shaki-yeil is a high-ranking crest of the Gaanax.ádi Tlingit (as well as certain Tsimshian-speaking groups), and it may be that this important mythological figure is represented by the formline face with a recurved beak seen on the back of nearly all raven rattles.
 
A similar rattle can be found in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on permanent view in Gallery 681.(access.no. 89.4.2161)
 
Source:
Steven C. Brown. Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century, University of Washington Press, 1998
 
Provenance:
Private collection, Brussels
Collection Lemaire, Amsterdam (c. 1990)
Collection Pelt, the Netherlands