Rattle staff (ukhurhe), of carved agaba wood, one of a pair, surmounted with a carved human head, partly hollowed below with three vertical slots and a wooden rattle inside, commissioned after the death of a man to represent his spirit, social status and lineage: West Africa, Nigeria, Edo State, Benin, 19th century
WEST AFRICA. LOWER NIGERIA. BENIN. WOODWORK. [One of] GRAVE-POSTS, 2, carved in Agba wood. At the top of each is crudely carved a human head. Beneath this the post is partly hollowed, leaving three vertical slots encaging a rattling bar of wood; this section of the post is ornamented with engraved wavy and straight lines. Below, at intervals, are two mouldings. Taken in 1922 from a 'death-house' at Uhi, Benin District, S. Nigeria, where they stood at the head of graves of men who were killed during the British Punitive Expeditionof 1897. The posts were carried in the funeral procession as rattles before being set up at the graves. MS note: Bini tribe Midwestern State. Curator note, 23 June 2011: One of a pair of rattle staffs or ukhurhe, of carved wood surmounted with a carved human head, partly hollowed below with three vertical slots and decorated with a pattern of straight and wavy lines, below are two mouldings, inside is a rattling bar of wood; commissioned by descendants of the ancient Edo kingdom in Nigeria after a man dies, the rattle staff represent his spirit, his social status and lineage: Africa, West Africa, Southern Nigeria, Edo State, Uhi, Bini people, late 19th to early 20th century.