Nuer bells
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1884.108.7 .1 .2 .3
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan?]
Cultural Group:
?Nuer
Date Made:
?Before 1858
Materials:
Iron Metal , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Bent , Welded ? , Perforated , Knotted
Dimensions:
[.1] Total L = 125, bell body L =52.2, W across top = 39.5, across mouth = 45.8 by 29; th walls = 1; suspension loop W = 17.5, th = 2.4 by 1.8 mm; clapper L = 80, W = 4.8, th = 4.5 mm; [.2] total L = 94; bell body L = 53, W across top = 39, across mouth =
Weight:
160.1 g [.1-.2 together].
Other Owners:
Probably collected by John Petherick in 1858 and shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps via auction as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
1858?
Description:
A pair of iron bells [.1 - .2] linked across the top by a hide thong [.3].
The bells have been made in a similar way, with bodies formed from a rectangular sheet of iron that has been folded over double, with the long sides heated and hammered together.
The top and sides have been flattened, but the central part of the body forced open, creating a hollow, almost cylindrical interior that is lentoid in section and that widens as the bell body splays out towards the mouth.
The top edge of each bell has been pierced twice for a suspension loop; these holes have jagged edges and were punched through from the bell interior.
A narrow iron bar, roughly square in section, has been fitted through these holes and bent into an elongated oval loop, with the ends overlapping near the top.
A second, smaller oval loop hangs down from this, inside the body, to which the clapper has been attached.
The clappers are each made from a slightly thicker iron rod, with a rectangular section that becomes almost round for part of its body, then tapers towards the top, where it has been bent over the small loop and turned down and in towards the clapper body to hold it in place.
The clappers both extend beyond the lip of the bell mouth, and are of uneven lengths.
At the top, 2 hide thongs have been used to tie the two bells together [.3], both made from the same yellowish brown material (Pantone 7507C). A short rectangular strip has been attached to the top of the suspension loop of 1884.108.7.1, by wrapping one end over the loop, pushing the other end through a long slit cut down the centre of the thong, and then pulling this tight to secure it. A second, longer hide thong has been tied to the iron loop for the other bell, 1884.108.7.2; this has only a small slit cut in the lower end, which was wrapped around the iron ring with the body of the thong pushed through the hole on the other side and pulled tight in its turn. The other end was then tied to the first thong with a simple knot. The object is compete and intact, with some surface rust on the iron elements, now a reddish brown colour (Pantone 7533C), and a flaw or cut in the iron of [.2] that has left a small hole in the body wall. The group has a total weight of 160.1 grams. 1884.108.7.1 has a total length of 125 mm, including its suspension ring; the bell body is 52.2 mm long, 39.5 mm wide across the top and 45.8 mm wide and 29 mm deep across the mouth opening, while the metal is 1 mm thick; its suspension loop measures 17.5 mm across its maximum width, and is made from a bar 2.4 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick; the clapper is 80 mm long, 4.8 mm wide and 4.5 mm thick. 1884.108.7.2 has a total length of 94 mm, including its suspension ring; the bell body is 53 mm long, 39 mm wide across the top and 44.8 mm wide and 30 mm deep across the mouth opening, while the metal is 1 mm thick; its suspension loop measures 14.4 mm across its maximum width, and is made from a bar 2 mm wide and 1.7 mm thick; the clapper is 52 mm long, 4.7 mm wide and 4.3 mm thick. 1884.108.7.3, the thong, has a width of 5.5 mm and is 0.4 mm thick. The 2 parts, stretched out, have a combined length of 145 mm.
Probably collected by John Petherick in 1858 and shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps at the auction of some of Petherick's collection conducted by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ), and possibly as part of lot 117 'A set of girl's iron waist bells'. Pitt Rivers sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, as part of the first batch of objects sent there, probably in 1874. It became part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
1884.108.7.2 is probably the bell illustrated in J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man, p. 513 figure 2. This matches the Pitt Rivers Museum bell in shape and details such as some surface flaws in the iron, but the hide thong on the suspension loop has been drawn incorrectly. Wood does not give a cultural attribution, and simply states that this is one of the bells in 'Colonel Lane Fox's collection'.
The cultural attribution of this object to the Nuer did not come from the collector's information, but was done on the basis of a parallel type collected by Evans-Pritchard; it is equally likely to be a Dinka object. Larger versions of this type of bell seem to have been used to adorn cattle (see 1934.8.14 from the Dinka, or 1979.20.103, from the Dinka Tuich). This item does not appear in Petherick's unpublished sketchbook, now in the Wellcome Library (MS 5789). He talks only generically about bells in his publications, with a reference to Arabs trading cattle-bells to the Shilluk ( Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, 1861, p. 351) . Amongst the Nuer, iron bells appear to have retained a high value; "Nuer have always been poor in iron objects. Till recently they possessed very few iron spears, cherished as heirlooms ... Iron bells ... are rare and highly prized even at the present time, and in the old days iron rings and bracelets were important pieces of property' (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 86).
Rachael Sparks 19/9/2005.
At the top, 2 hide thongs have been used to tie the two bells together [.3], both made from the same yellowish brown material (Pantone 7507C). A short rectangular strip has been attached to the top of the suspension loop of 1884.108.7.1, by wrapping one end over the loop, pushing the other end through a long slit cut down the centre of the thong, and then pulling this tight to secure it. A second, longer hide thong has been tied to the iron loop for the other bell, 1884.108.7.2; this has only a small slit cut in the lower end, which was wrapped around the iron ring with the body of the thong pushed through the hole on the other side and pulled tight in its turn. The other end was then tied to the first thong with a simple knot. The object is compete and intact, with some surface rust on the iron elements, now a reddish brown colour (Pantone 7533C), and a flaw or cut in the iron of [.2] that has left a small hole in the body wall. The group has a total weight of 160.1 grams. 1884.108.7.1 has a total length of 125 mm, including its suspension ring; the bell body is 52.2 mm long, 39.5 mm wide across the top and 45.8 mm wide and 29 mm deep across the mouth opening, while the metal is 1 mm thick; its suspension loop measures 17.5 mm across its maximum width, and is made from a bar 2.4 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick; the clapper is 80 mm long, 4.8 mm wide and 4.5 mm thick. 1884.108.7.2 has a total length of 94 mm, including its suspension ring; the bell body is 53 mm long, 39 mm wide across the top and 44.8 mm wide and 30 mm deep across the mouth opening, while the metal is 1 mm thick; its suspension loop measures 14.4 mm across its maximum width, and is made from a bar 2 mm wide and 1.7 mm thick; the clapper is 52 mm long, 4.7 mm wide and 4.3 mm thick. 1884.108.7.3, the thong, has a width of 5.5 mm and is 0.4 mm thick. The 2 parts, stretched out, have a combined length of 145 mm.
Probably collected by John Petherick in 1858 and shipped back to England in 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, perhaps at the auction of some of Petherick's collection conducted by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ), and possibly as part of lot 117 'A set of girl's iron waist bells'. Pitt Rivers sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, as part of the first batch of objects sent there, probably in 1874. It became part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
1884.108.7.2 is probably the bell illustrated in J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man, p. 513 figure 2. This matches the Pitt Rivers Museum bell in shape and details such as some surface flaws in the iron, but the hide thong on the suspension loop has been drawn incorrectly. Wood does not give a cultural attribution, and simply states that this is one of the bells in 'Colonel Lane Fox's collection'.
The cultural attribution of this object to the Nuer did not come from the collector's information, but was done on the basis of a parallel type collected by Evans-Pritchard; it is equally likely to be a Dinka object. Larger versions of this type of bell seem to have been used to adorn cattle (see 1934.8.14 from the Dinka, or 1979.20.103, from the Dinka Tuich). This item does not appear in Petherick's unpublished sketchbook, now in the Wellcome Library (MS 5789). He talks only generically about bells in his publications, with a reference to Arabs trading cattle-bells to the Shilluk ( Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, 1861, p. 351) . Amongst the Nuer, iron bells appear to have retained a high value; "Nuer have always been poor in iron objects. Till recently they possessed very few iron spears, cherished as heirlooms ... Iron bells ... are rare and highly prized even at the present time, and in the old days iron rings and bracelets were important pieces of property' (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 86).
Rachael Sparks 19/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book V entry
[p.
45]
-
[insert] 1884.108 Numbers begining with 18...
(4 figures) are
black
series) [end insert]
MUSIC PERCUSSION
[insert] From H.B's written book catalogues except those marked X [end insert] BELLS [insert] 7 (1-2) [end insert] - 2 small iron bells on a hide thong, with iron clapper.
ibid
[C.
AFRICA]
ditto
[Petherick coll.
c.
1858].
Black book entry [p. 81] - 1863. Small iron bell, Central Africa. Obtd by Petherick. [insert] 1884.108.6 or 7 [end insert]. [Note that 1884.108.6 seems to be associated with black book entry 1861, RTS 4/12/2003].
Balfour Catalogue: Red numbers Musical Instruments - [p. 2] 129. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - PERCUSSION. [p. 157] L - BELLS (SWINGING CLAPPERS) [p. 161] P.R. coll. Two small iron bells made in same way as the last [1884.108.6, 'made from piece of sheet iron bent over on itself and the edges forming flanges welded together, two holes at top for twisted hide loop'], but the holes differently placed, & through them a rough iron loop is passed to which a hide thong is fixed, & on the inside an iron swinging clapper. [insert] 1884.108.7 [end insert]. Central Africa. Obt[aine]d by Consul Petherick c. 1858. [insert] P.R.V.45 [end insert].
Card Catalogue Entry [Tribes] - [information as in Balfour catalogue, with inserted handwritten additions] NUER (probably). Ascribed by comparison with specimen collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard d.d. 1931 [RTS 23/7/2004] [music?] [information as above, with additional comment] - these bells are used by a number of the groups in this area.
Written on object - 129.L.5 [red ink, written on .1 and .2, partially faded; RTS 21/2/2005].
Black book entry [p. 81] - 1863. Small iron bell, Central Africa. Obtd by Petherick. [insert] 1884.108.6 or 7 [end insert]. [Note that 1884.108.6 seems to be associated with black book entry 1861, RTS 4/12/2003].
Balfour Catalogue: Red numbers Musical Instruments - [p. 2] 129. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - PERCUSSION. [p. 157] L - BELLS (SWINGING CLAPPERS) [p. 161] P.R. coll. Two small iron bells made in same way as the last [1884.108.6, 'made from piece of sheet iron bent over on itself and the edges forming flanges welded together, two holes at top for twisted hide loop'], but the holes differently placed, & through them a rough iron loop is passed to which a hide thong is fixed, & on the inside an iron swinging clapper. [insert] 1884.108.7 [end insert]. Central Africa. Obt[aine]d by Consul Petherick c. 1858. [insert] P.R.V.45 [end insert].
Card Catalogue Entry [Tribes] - [information as in Balfour catalogue, with inserted handwritten additions] NUER (probably). Ascribed by comparison with specimen collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard d.d. 1931 [RTS 23/7/2004] [music?] [information as above, with additional comment] - these bells are used by a number of the groups in this area.
Written on object - 129.L.5 [red ink, written on .1 and .2, partially faded; RTS 21/2/2005].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A).
[AP] Current Display Label - CENTRAL AFRICA, NUER Bell made from sheet iron.
Original Pitt Rivers Collection.
1884.108.7.
[AP]
Publication History:
1884.108.7.2 is probably the bell illustrated in J.G.
Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man, p.
513 figure 2.
This matches our bell in shape and details such as some surface flaws in the iron, but the hide thong on the suspension loop has been drawn incorrectly.
Wood does not give a cultural attribution, and simply states that this is one of the bells in 'Colonel Lane Fox's collection' [RTS 21/2/2005].
