Zande barkcloth sheet
Accession Number:
1930.86.45
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Bark Cloth Textile Plant , Plant Fibre , Grass Fibre Plant?
Process:
Beaten , Stitched
Dimensions:
Max L = 1113, Max W - 1033, th = 1; stitch L = 8, stitch W = 2 mm [RTS 19/7/2005].
Weight:
378.2 g
Other Owners:
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930. Purchased from Edward Evans-Pritchard for the PRM by Henry Balfour on 31 December
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Purchased 31 December 1930
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Rectangular sheet of beaten barkcloth made from orangey brown bark fibre (Pantone 730C).
The inside face is covered with a lattice of impressed squares, made by the crosshatched head of the beater.
The sheet has been made from 3 rectangular pieces, sewn together along their long edges with a double row of simple running stitches, using a pale yellow grass fibre as the thread (Pantone 7506C).
This fibre has been only loosely twisted in parts.
The cloth is essentially complete, but has some surface damage including creases, a few tears, and a number of small holes across the surface, that may be the result of pinning or fixing the cloth in place or for display.
There is also some surface discolouration, with darker patches running along 2 parallel edges, and a lighter yellow band running across the body from one side edge, with a broad band of red ochre staining the upper surface on the opposite edge.
The barkcloth has a weight of 378.2 grams, and a maximum length of 1113 mm, width of 1033 mm and thickness of 1 mm; the stitches are on average 8 mm long, and 2 mm wide.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.
Evans-Pritchard reviews the history of use of barkcloth amongst the Zande, using reports of early travellers such as Schweinfurth, Junker and Casati. These suggest that the Zande used skins as their primary clothing, with barkcloth being something of a luxury, introduced through contacts with groups to the south; by the time Evans-Pritchard did his fieldwork amongst the Zande in 1926-1930, the use of barkcloth had become ‘universal’. It was supposedly made from the fig tree, or roko (Evans-Pritchard 1971, The Azande, pp 79-85). According to Larken, barkcloth manufacture was not a specialised profession, but something 'practised by all' (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 10). He describes the process as follows: "During the rains, about July, two horizontal cuts are made round the stem four or five feet apart, a perpendicular one joining them. The bark is loosened and removed in a single piece. The outer skin is scraped away with a knife, and the dark brown fibrous remainder beaten on a log with a wata. This is usually the point of a small tusk about a foot long. The pointed end is used as a handle, the other, of which the face has been scored with a series of closely-crossing lines to a depth of about the tenth of an inch, as a stamp, the bark, lying on the log, being punched all over with it. The process is gradual, and not too much force may be employed. The fibres become spread out and the thickness of the substance reduced, though somewhat unevenly so. The resulting cloth when dry is of a light reddish brown colour, harsh in texture, and bearing throughout its not very long life the marks of the corrugations on the face of the wata. If the tree is so small that the strip of cloth is not big enough for its destined purpose, other strips are sewn on to the first with fibre. The cloth may be dyed black by immersion in the mud of a stream, where chips and pieces of the wood of a banga tree have been placed. Parti-coloured garments of black and brown are often noticed" (Larken op.cit. pp 34-35). Brock also describes barkcloth manufacture, adding that the bark is "prepared with oil" and "... either left in its natural yellowish brown colour or dyed red or black according to the fashion of the moment. Great care is taken in the correct wearing of the rokko with respect to its folds and which side overlaps the other. It is held round the body by a belt and drawn up between the legs, the ends either being carried right up to the arm pits or turned down over the thighs. The fig tree from which the bark is taken is found in most mens' villages and they always plant cuttings from the trees when starting a new village' (R.G.C. Brock, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and News 1, 1918, 254).
For Zande beaters, of the type used to produce barkcloth, see 1934.8.125-6, 1931.66.15 and possibly 1927.54.61.
Rachael Sparks 29/7/2005.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.
Evans-Pritchard reviews the history of use of barkcloth amongst the Zande, using reports of early travellers such as Schweinfurth, Junker and Casati. These suggest that the Zande used skins as their primary clothing, with barkcloth being something of a luxury, introduced through contacts with groups to the south; by the time Evans-Pritchard did his fieldwork amongst the Zande in 1926-1930, the use of barkcloth had become ‘universal’. It was supposedly made from the fig tree, or roko (Evans-Pritchard 1971, The Azande, pp 79-85). According to Larken, barkcloth manufacture was not a specialised profession, but something 'practised by all' (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 10). He describes the process as follows: "During the rains, about July, two horizontal cuts are made round the stem four or five feet apart, a perpendicular one joining them. The bark is loosened and removed in a single piece. The outer skin is scraped away with a knife, and the dark brown fibrous remainder beaten on a log with a wata. This is usually the point of a small tusk about a foot long. The pointed end is used as a handle, the other, of which the face has been scored with a series of closely-crossing lines to a depth of about the tenth of an inch, as a stamp, the bark, lying on the log, being punched all over with it. The process is gradual, and not too much force may be employed. The fibres become spread out and the thickness of the substance reduced, though somewhat unevenly so. The resulting cloth when dry is of a light reddish brown colour, harsh in texture, and bearing throughout its not very long life the marks of the corrugations on the face of the wata. If the tree is so small that the strip of cloth is not big enough for its destined purpose, other strips are sewn on to the first with fibre. The cloth may be dyed black by immersion in the mud of a stream, where chips and pieces of the wood of a banga tree have been placed. Parti-coloured garments of black and brown are often noticed" (Larken op.cit. pp 34-35). Brock also describes barkcloth manufacture, adding that the bark is "prepared with oil" and "... either left in its natural yellowish brown colour or dyed red or black according to the fashion of the moment. Great care is taken in the correct wearing of the rokko with respect to its folds and which side overlaps the other. It is held round the body by a belt and drawn up between the legs, the ends either being carried right up to the arm pits or turned down over the thighs. The fig tree from which the bark is taken is found in most mens' villages and they always plant cuttings from the trees when starting a new village' (R.G.C. Brock, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and News 1, 1918, 254).
For Zande beaters, of the type used to produce barkcloth, see 1934.8.125-6, 1931.66.15 and possibly 1927.54.61.
Rachael Sparks 29/7/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[BIV, p.
138] - 1930 [insert] 86 [end insert]
E.E.
EVANS PRITCHARD
31 Dec.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, etc.
[...] [p.
139, insert] 45-48 [end insert] - [1 of] 4 sheets of bark cloth, brown, some shewing [sic] pieces stitched together, AZANDE.
[...] [Base of p.
139, total of items 1930.86.1-65] - P[ai]d by cheque 31 Dec £
25-0-0
.
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Bark cloth, AZANDE, BAHR-EL-GHAZAL E. CENT. AFRICA. Evans Pritchard coll:- Pur. 31-12-1930 [rectangular metal-edged tag, stored in RDF]; PITT RIVERS MUSEUM. AFRICA, SUDAN, Zande barkcloth. Purch. Evans-Pritchard, 1930. 1930.86.45 [textile label, sewn onto corner; RTS 19/7/2005].
Written on object - AZANDE [ZM 10/3/2005]
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. This item appears on the list as "Bark-cloth (Zande) [see also 1930.86.46-8]. RDF 1930.86 contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attitudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time. The file also contains an undated list of 48 objects, which does not seem to match accessioned material and could be the list of rejected items that Balfour mentions in another letter on file, dated 31 December 1930 [RTS 10/1/2005].
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Bark cloth, AZANDE, BAHR-EL-GHAZAL E. CENT. AFRICA. Evans Pritchard coll:- Pur. 31-12-1930 [rectangular metal-edged tag, stored in RDF]; PITT RIVERS MUSEUM. AFRICA, SUDAN, Zande barkcloth. Purch. Evans-Pritchard, 1930. 1930.86.45 [textile label, sewn onto corner; RTS 19/7/2005].
Written on object - AZANDE [ZM 10/3/2005]
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. This item appears on the list as "Bark-cloth (Zande) [see also 1930.86.46-8]. RDF 1930.86 contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attitudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time. The file also contains an undated list of 48 objects, which does not seem to match accessioned material and could be the list of rejected items that Balfour mentions in another letter on file, dated 31 December 1930 [RTS 10/1/2005].
