Carved wooden staff with 3 slits towards the top, opening into a hollow in which is a small stick of wood, loose, forming a rattle when the staff is shaken or banged on the ground. The head on top of this staff is wearing the conical head-dress worn by queen-mothers. It is kept on an altar at the back or side, and is used in prayer (the Oba had them made of brasses as well as of wood). They are a symbol of authority transmitted to the owner from the predecessor
Short rattle staff with head carved from soft wood. The head is wearing a pointed cap or headdress and has scarification marks above the eyes. The rattle section is hollowed out, with a remaining piece of wood inside and geometric patterns incised on the outside.
Ukhurhe. Short rattle staff with head carved from soft wood. The head is wearing a pointed cap or headdress and has scarification marks above the eyes.
The catalogue card queries whether this may be Thomas number 327. It is not clear where this information comes from, but it seems to be incorrect. Written on the base of the staff is 326, and this corresponds to Thomas' 1st Catalogue. The catalogue lists 326 as: 'Evia of Enyai.'
The Other number field has been updated to reflect this.
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.../'
Catalogue card reads: 'Z 25235 | AFRICA | S. NIGERIA / BINI / (No 327?) / UKHURHE - carved wooden staff with 3 slits towards the top, opening into a hollow in which is a small stick of wood, loose, forming a rattle when the staff is shaken or banged on the ground. The head on top of this staff is wearing the conical head-dress worn by queen mothers. It is kept on an altar at the bak or side + is used in prayer. (The Oba had them made of brass as well as of wood.). They are a symbol of authority transmitted to the owner from his predecessor. / See P.J.C. Dark - "An Introduction to Benin Art + Technology" / p.26'
In second hand: 'cf. BINI Z 25233 / Z 25238'