National Museum of African American History and Culture
Dance rattle
Unidentified · 19th or 20th century
A wrought-iron dance rattle of the type used in West Africa, possibly a Yoruban rattle called an 'iku,' worn around the ankle during dances. The iron rattle is a skeuomorph of a seed-pod rattle, with three iron clappers inside each "pod" found on either side of a center oval opening. There are a pair of iron rings hanging from a loop at each end of the rattle to provide additional noise.
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