Catalogue card: Stave (Ehuinogbe of Uhi) with elaborate puzzle-carving, terminating in human figure holding 'orb and sceptre.'
Labelled 'Thomas Colln, S. Nigeria 1910-13, 2227.314'
Carved wooden staff with central rattle section and a seated human figure on top holding an orb and a staff. The figure is wearing a cap with braids down the back, has scarification marks on face and body, wears armlets and bracelets, and is holding a staff in one hand and an orb in the other. The rattle section is incised with geometric designs and has three slits through which the rattle can be seen. There is an abstract motif carved into the bottom section of the staff. The staff has been damaged in a number of places, there are chips of wood missing and a narrow crack down the front of the body.
Carved wooden staff with central rattle section and a seated human figure on top holding an orb and a staff. The figure is wearing a cap with braids down the back, has scarification marks on face and body, wears armlets and bracelets, and is holding a staff in one hand and an orb in the other. The rattle section is incised with geometric designs and has three slits through which the rattle can be seen.
During the collections-based phase of the Museum Affordances Project 2018, photographs of some of these rattle staffs were shared on the project Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/reentanglements/).
In a comment on 01/10/2018, Adenike Cosgrove wrote: ' This looks to be an Edo ukhurhe rattle staff. You can read more about them here: https://www.imodara.com/.../nigeria-edo-ukhurhe-rattle.../'
These staffs (Z 20317 - Z 20342) appear to have been carved by the same hand, or in the same workshop and were collected by N.W. Thomas as a group. They are listed in Thomas' 1st catalogue (Doc.413) as entries 308-335, which are situated at the very back of the catalogue.
Other/1
A selection of rattle staff collected by Northcote Thomas are shown together in Image 390447.