Shilluk club

Shilluk club
Other views of this artifact:


Accession Number:
1903.16.119
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Jonglei Bor
Cultural Group:
Shilluk
Date Made:
By 1903
Materials:
Wood Plant , Ebony Wood Plant?
Process:
Carved , Polished
Dimensions:
L = 820, W = 30, th = 29 mm [RTS 9/5/2005].
Weight:
429.7 g
Field Collector:
Donald Gunn
PRM Source:
Donald Gunn
Acquired:
Donated 1903
Collected Date:
By 1903
Description:
Throwing club carved from a single piece of wood, with an irregularly striped yellow (Pantone 7510C) and reddish brown colour (Pantone 476C), probably ebony. This has a pointed head, with a narrow oval sectioned body that swells out slightly below then tapers in to a pointed butt. The surface has a natural irregularity reflecting the form of the parent branch and has been polished, although tool marks are still visible in areas. It is complete and intact, with a weight of 429.7 grams, length of 820 mm and a maximum width of 30 mm and thickness of 29 mm.

Collected by Donald Gunn at Bor in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Gunn appears to have collected other Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, and Kodok.

This object was used as a throwing club.

Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.

Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry [III, p. 110] - 1903 [pencil insert] 16 [end insert] DR D. GUNN Esq., M.B. 40 Dover Street, London, W. June. [...] [p. 113] - The following from the Shilluk tribe, Upper Nile. viz: [p. 114, pencil insert] 118-119 [end insert] - [One of] 2 long throwing clubs, Barh [sic] el Gebel (obtained at Bor).

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes or clubs catalogue cards [RTS 23/7/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Bor. Shilluk tribe. Wooden throwing club. Donated by Donald Gunn, 1903. 1903.16.119 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 10/5/2005].

Written on object - BARH [sic] EL GEBEL, (obtained at BOR). Pres. by Dr. D. Gunn, 1903 [RTS 6/4/2005].



 
Funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council
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