Tlingit Polychrome Wood Shaman's Ceremonial Rattle

Private New Jersey Collection
Sotheby's New York, November 1980
Private New York Collection

This type of rattle is called an oyster-catcher rattle after the bird it represents. Its other-worldly appearance marked by a black body, fire-red beak and yellow-rimmed eyes, made it an ideal subject for a shaman. Oyster-catcher rattles are usually elaborately carved with clusters of figures on the back. This dynamic and mesmerizing example features a strange, horned monster with a shaman-figure torturing a bound captive, probably a witch.