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.