rattle

Rattle constructed of two thin strips of wood bent in arcs, one inside the other attached to a horizontal wood handle. The two wood arcs are pierced and sewn with commercial 'Z' twist two-ply thread, holding on the underside series of puffin bills. The lower arc is attached to the upper arc which is nailed into the handle. The grip section of the handle is of oval cross section, with the ends carved as two birds heads, simply and effectively with bold long beaks. eyes as pointed ovals, the heads painted black, eye surrounds black with blue surrounds, and the beaks red. The rattle seems to have been quite new when collected, that is it is unpatinated and used trade materials. The thread used to attach the puffin bills to the arcs may be cotton; one of the bindings attaching the two arcs is of a trade thread; that on the other side may be of a native thread such as nettle fibre.