Sculpture from the Collection of George Terasaki

Sculpture from the Collection of George Terasaki

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 55. TSIMSHIAN RAVEN RATTLE.

TSIMSHIAN RAVEN RATTLE

Auction Closed

November 19, 09:20 PM GMT

Estimate

100,000 - 150,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

TSIMSHIAN RAVEN RATTLE


Circa 1790-1820

Length: 13 ⅝ in (34.5 cm)

Wood, pigments, fiber, pebbles

Brooklyn Museum, New York

James Economos, New York, acquired from the above by exchange in 1972

George Terasaki, New York, acquired from the above

“Monumental Legacy”, Native American Art, No. 23, October and November 2019, p. 126, fig. 2

The archetypal raven rattle illustrates the ability of Northwest Coast artists to encapsulate a complex history within a simple symbolic expression. These finely detailed rattles intertwine a number of potent images in a concise, compact, and graceful form. The raven of this rattle exhibits a pleasing collection of flowing sculptural lines from beak to wing tips, and the details of the human on the raven's back and its mask-like face highlight the skill of the maker. The rattle's design elements and relief work express the older, archaic style of northern two-dimensional design. The sculptural style of the human face and the lack of painted lines on the eyelids suggest that a Tsimshian artist was the creator of this exceptional rattle.


The arrangement of figures in this sculpture is commonly seen on raven rattles, with the raven's tail developed as a forward-facing, long-beaked bird and the reclining human's tongue held in the tip of its beak. Some versions of the image include a frog in various positions between the tail-bird and the human, but those represent a relatively small number of such rattles. The imagery of the joined tongue is one of potent shamanic content, and can be seen in a range of objects from argillite pipes to totem poles, depicting intimate spiritual contact or the transfer of esoteric knowledge and power. Often associated with healing ceremonies, such rattles are held with the bird's beak pointing downwards when used. The pebbles inside the body of the bird heighten the sensorial experience, producing a gentle rattling sound in tandem with the movement of the piece.  


It has been suggested that the raven/human imagery of these rattles illustrates Raven the Creator's own self-creation. Nass-shaki-yeil (Raven-at-the-head-of-the-Nass) was the keeper of all the light in the world, and was often depicted as a huge bird with a completely recurved beak. Raven entered the body of the daughter of Nass-shaki-yeil by disguising himself as a hemlock needle in her drinking water, and was reborn as her raven/human child. The raven child later stole the light from his grandfather and released it to the world. Nass-shaki-yeil is a high-ranking crest of the Gaanax.ádi Tlingit (as well as certain Tsimshian-speaking groups), and it may be that this important mythological figure is represented by the formline face with a recurved beak seen on the break of nearly all raven rattles.


Steven C. Brown