The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Rattle Staff (ukhuhre)

1900s

Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, member guild

(s) of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers)
Wood, paint, cowrie shells, and plant fiber
Overall: 149.5 x 7.5 x 8 cm (58 7/8 x 2 15/16 x 3 1/8 in.)
Gift of Phyllis Sloane in memory of Rose White 1998.85
Location: 108A African

Did You Know?

Rattle staffs (ukhuhrẹ) like this are still used in the Benin Kingdom today.

Description

Rattle staffs (ukhuhrẹ) are instruments of memory and sound. Though this staff represented a single elite man, it evokes the individuals in his lineage. Inspired by bamboo, it is divided into segments that link three carved men dressed in coral-beaded finery. Benin courtiers still carry these staffs during celebrations and rituals. By banging the staff on the ground, a rattling sound emanates from its open center, where a wooden cylinder rolls freely. The noise alerts ancestral spirits to prayers offered on their behalf. When not in use, they are stored on ancestral altars.
  • 1900s
    Commissioned from the Igbesanmwan, Benin Kingdom
    ?-1969
    Odyssey, Ltd. Exotic Arts [Sam Hilu]
    1969–1998
    By purchase (?) Ms. Phyllis Lester Sloane [1921-2009], Shaker Heights, OH
    1998–
    By gift to the The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 As per Ginna Sloane 5-31-2022, P. Sloane slide depicting object with captions "Benin Staff" 53" (front) and Odyssey 2/22/69 (back)
    2 As per Ginna Sloane 5-31-2022, P. Sloane slide depicting object with captions "Benin Staff" 53" (front) and Odyssey 2/22/69 (back)
  • Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. “Art from the Benin Kingdom.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 34-35. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 34.
    Digital Benin, Markk Museum Am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Kunste der Welt, (Last Updated: 2021-02-13) ID 160751 digitalbenin.org
  • {{cite web|title=Rattle Staff (ukhuhre)|url=false|author=|year=1900s|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.85