Antiquities Exhibits

One of just a handful of “rattling cups” that survive from the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, this elegant black-glazed wine cup from the second half of the 4th century BCE is dedicated to Kastor and Polydeukes (Castor and Pollux), the twin sons of Zeus known as the Dioscouri, who protected sailors, horseman, and chariot racers. Since each brother split his time between Mt. Olympus and Hades, they were often represented by stars, depicted here beneath the cup’s rim.  The cup's ritual purpose is further indicated by a wreath, garlands, and bucrania  bucrania (skulls of sacrificial bulls) decorating the cup’s body. But, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the vessel is that lifting and swirling the cup as if drinking or making a libation (liquid offering) during a ceremony produces a rattling noise.  It was assumed the sound was made by loose pellets moving inside the rim but curators at the J. Paul Getty Museum were puzzled by the fact that sometimes they could hear two...

Baby rattles go back at least 2500 years. Ancient rattles were made of various materials, including clay, wood, bronze, dried heads of poppy flowers, and pebbles. One of the oldest infant rattles in central Europe was found in Poland  in a grave of a baby who was a member of the early Iron Age Lusatian culture (1300 BCE – 500 BCE).  That hollow clay rattle was shaped like a pillow and was filled with little balls. It was found next to a tiny urn containing the cremated remains of the baby.   Children in ancient Greece and Rome would have been amused by mold-made rattles like those pictured here. In his Politics, Aristotle observed  that young children should be given a rattle (particularly one designed by Archytas) to keep them quiet.  Greek mold-produced terracottas began to appear in the archaeological record around the 7th-century BCE. These figures were formed by pressing wet clay into a two‑part mold to form a small sculpture in the round that can be s...