Policeman's Rattle

Art Historical Context

Alfred Koehn's *Policeman's Rattle* (c. 1939) captures a charming slice of American history through watercolor and graphite on paper. This detailed rendering depicts a wooden ratchet noisemaker, once a staple tool for urban police officers in the 19th century. Before the invention of the modern police whistle in the 1880s, these hand-cranked rattles produced a loud, distinctive clatter to alert the public or summon aid during patrols. Koehn's precise depiction highlights the object's folk craftsmanship, with its turned wooden handle and geared mechanism, evoking everyday heroism in early American law enforcement. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a New Deal-era Federal Art Project (1935–1942), the work reflects the era's effort to document and celebrate the nation's vernacular design heritage amid the Great Depression. Artists like Koehn produced thousands of such watercolor index sheets to preserve artifacts threatened by time or neglect, blending artistic skill with scholarly accuracy. The IAD's holdings, now at the National Gallery of Art, offer invaluable insight into America's cultural identity. Koehn's technique—vibrant watercolor washes for texture and graphite for fine lines—brings the rattle to life, making it both a functional relic and an artistic gem. Measuring nearly 20 by 16 inches, this piece invites visitors to ponder how simple tools shaped community safety and folklore.