The Aquarium will be closed all day on Wednesday 27 April, and reopen from Thursday 28 April.
Rattle made from wood with threaded gourd discs.
Played by holding the wooden handle and shaking vertically so that the pieces of the gourd hit each other. Gourd shakers (sistrums) like this are commonly used in West Africa and played as the percussion part of a small orchestra. It would typically be played alongside balafons, talking drums, ngonis, and koras. The loud sound makes it very suitable for providing a rhythm for dancing, and it is also often used in Hausa and Fulani music.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
