Castanets, 1946-1956, wood, 3.3 inches long, Paul Parmalee, 1989.6.3.
A pair of shell-shaped castanets carved from wood, their halves attached by gold braided cotton cords with yellow and red pom-poms. The words “Cuba” and “Havana” are incised on the upper half of the instruments. Castanets are a percussion instrument (idiophone) used by cultures the world over for thousands of years.