The baby rattle dates back at least 2500 years. The earliest rattle yet found was discovered in an Iron Age baby's grave in Poland. Today, we think of rattles as toys and the noises they produce as amusements for infants, but in ancient societies they served a secondary purpose, to frighten away evil spirits. This Victorian charm is fashioned in the shape of a miniature rattle of the period. The rattle has four bells, a working whistle and a branch of coral at the base. With the coral we have a dual purpose yet again, as a talisman and as a teether. A rare piece.