Raven rattle

Albert Edward Edenshaw

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Raven rattles, carried in dances by men of high rank, traditionally feature a raven, a secondary raven’s face, and a human figure reclining on the raven’s back. Here, the human figure has a bear’s or wolf’s head and, on the underside, a tiny frog sits at the bottom of the face on the raven’s breast. This inventive design is attributed to Albert Edward Edenshaw, uncle of the renowned Haida artist Charles Edenshaw.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art