Child's rattle and teether
Not on view
This object functioned as a toy with a whistle and bells, as a teething device and as an amulet. The silver of the whistle and bells made it precious, while the coral was used for teething and was thought to ward off enchantment and disease. As a token of protection and prosperity whistle and bells were included in an eighteenth-century American portrait of Mrs. Jacob Hurd and child (see 64.114.2), as well as many Northern Renaissance paintings. This rattle may have belonged to the daughter of Duncan Phyfe, the New York cabinetmaker (1768–1854).
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