Rattle with Bell
, Spain, 17th century
Rattle with Bell
Description
The openwork silver-gilt rattle is suspended from a silver chain attached to a column-like handle. The rattle is formed of a central rod with ribbed caps on both top and bottom. Connected to this is a wide central strip forming a circle with six enclosed ball-shaped bells on pendant loops surmounted by another six such bells suspended from ornamental C-scroll strips. Attached below is a small bell pendant. There is an unidentifiable hallmark on the pendant loop. The rattle is in good condition.
Literature:
Rattles with bells such as this were worn by children in Spain, hung from the belt as depicted in portraits from the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Very elaborate ones were worn by royal children. The tradition goes back to antiquity when Etruscan and Roman children hung chains around their necks with so-called bullae, a pendant with internal rattles or clappers. The sound from the rattles within were believed to ward off evil and keep demons away.
Similar rattles from Spain dated to the seventeenth century can be found in the collections of the Museo Diocesano, Cuenca and in the Museo del Pueblo Espanol, Madrid. See: Gonzalez/Moraleja Izquierdo, La Collección de Amuletos del Museo Diocesano de Cuenca, 2005, pp. 146-148, and, for an overview of portraits of Spanish children wearing amulets, see pp. 67-81.