Zande cigarette holder
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.128
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved , Decorated , Incised , Pyroengraved Pokerwork , Burnt
Dimensions:
L = 112, Max diam = 13.8, min diam = 8, th walls = 1 mm [RTS 19/10/2004].
Weight:
4.1 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 27th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
27th April 1933
Description:
Hollow decorated tube, used as a cigarette holder.
This has been carved from a single piece of yellow wood (Pantone 7508C), with the interior hollowed out to allow the user to draw smoke from a cigarette mounted at the broad end in through the narrow mouthpiece.
The body is essentially cylindrical, with a circular section, but the exterior has been elaborately carved.
It consists of a broad funnel-shaped end, cut flat across the top, that tapers to its base, then a series of 5 discs alternating with 5 lengths of squat biconical beading, then a conical mouthpiece that tapers in to a flat cut end.
The surface has been blackened (Pantone black 7C), except for the flat sided discs, where the yellow colour of the wood has been left, to contrast with incised patterns burnt into the wood.
The sides of the top, and bottom disc have been decorated with oblique hatching, bisected by a horizontal line around the circumference; the 3 discs in the centre have been decorated with crosshatched designs.
The object is complete and intact, and still carries a scent of tobacco; the interior has been blackened through use, particularly towards the wider end.
The holder has a weight of 4.1 grams, is 112 mm long, has a diameter of 13.8 mm at its broadest end, and 8 mm at its narrow end, while the walls have a thickness of 1 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933, during a shooting expedition. They do not record the Zande name for this type of object. The dark coloration would appear to be from burning the surface of the wood, rather than through staining. The flanged style of work is reminiscent of some Bongo carvings.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933, during a shooting expedition. They do not record the Zande name for this type of object. The dark coloration would appear to be from burning the surface of the wood, rather than through staining. The flanged style of work is reminiscent of some Bongo carvings.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: [...] [p.
260] - From the
ZANDE
tribe, LIRANGO, YAMBIO, DINGBA & TAMBURA [...] [insert] 128 [end insert] - Carved wooden cigarette-holder, YAMBIO (887).
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Number: (887) Description: Cigarette holder, made of wood, dark in colour, with carved stem, tapered mouthpiece and expanded end Length 11 cm People: [insert] Zande? [end insert] Locality: [insert] Zande Yambio ?Locality name E. Sudan 4˚34'N 28˚23'E Collected by: Major Powell-Cotton How acquired: dd Major Powell-Cotton 1934 [Drawing]
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 887: "Cigarette holder, engraved and stained wood, 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Cigarette-holder. ZANDE, YAMBIO, E. SUDAN, 4 ° 24' N., 28° 23' E. d.d. Major Powell Cotton, 1934/ 1934.8.128 (887) [tied to object, RTS 19/10/2004].
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Number: (887) Description: Cigarette holder, made of wood, dark in colour, with carved stem, tapered mouthpiece and expanded end Length 11 cm People: [insert] Zande? [end insert] Locality: [insert] Zande Yambio ?Locality name E. Sudan 4˚34'N 28˚23'E Collected by: Major Powell-Cotton How acquired: dd Major Powell-Cotton 1934 [Drawing]
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 887: "Cigarette holder, engraved and stained wood, 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Cigarette-holder. ZANDE, YAMBIO, E. SUDAN, 4 ° 24' N., 28° 23' E. d.d. Major Powell Cotton, 1934/ 1934.8.128 (887) [tied to object, RTS 19/10/2004].
