Lotuko necklet

Lotuko necklet
Other views of this artifact:


Accession Number:
1934.8.73
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Loronyo
Cultural Group:
Lotuko [Otuho]
Date Made:
By April 1933
Materials:
Iron Metal , Animal Ivory Tooth
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Carved , Decorated , Incised , Polished
Dimensions:
Max L = 355 mm, L chain = 319 mm, each link L = 5 mm; L pendants = 54.5 mm, diam holes = 4 mm [RTS 24/8/2004].
Weight:
15.2 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater) on 13th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
13th April 1933
Description:
Neck ornament consisting of an iron chain, 319 mm in length as hung, made up from a series of elongated oval links attached at right angles to one another; each link is around 5 mm long. A iron loop has been strung onto the end of this, made from a rod bent into a circle with ends just touching, and measuring 8.7 mm in diameter; this is a shiny metallic grey colour (Pantone 877C). A pair of matching ivory pendants have been hung from this loop, through suspension holes bored near their tops. Each pendant is roughly oval in section, and has a narrow flat top with straight sides below flaring out to a carination just below the suspension hole; below this, the body tapers in to a narrow, flat-cut base. Each has been decorated with a series of shallow and roughly drawn incised lines around the lower body; these are arranged in two groups with a gap between. The lines have been darkened with dirt or pigment; there is also some red surface staining on the interior faces of each hole and on the flat tops and bases of each pendant. The pendants have each been carved from a single piece of yellowish ivory (Pantone 7402C), and the surface then polished. They both measure 54.5 mm in length, while the broader of the two pendants has a maximum width of 8.4 mm and thickness of 8.2 mm; their holes have diameters of 4 mm. The necklet as a whole weighs 15.2 grams and is 355 mm long.

Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Loronyo on 13th April 1933, during a shooting expedition. They did not record its local name, but the pendants are said to serve as amulets.
They appear to be a miniature version of amulets 1934.8.74-5, which are known as nalatome.

This object is currently on display in the Court, case 29A.

Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.

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. 252] - From the LATUKA tribe, NAVERA, TORIT, LARONYO. [p. 256, insert] 73 [end insert] - Neck-chain with pair of ivory amulet pendants, LARONYO (612).

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 26/5/2004].

Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Latuka Tribe". This object appears as item 612: "2 ivory charms pendant, long iron chain, 13/4/33 Laronyo 4.38 N 32.37 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 - Amulets on neck-chain. LATUKA, LARONYO, E. SUDAN. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934. 4° 38' N., 32° 37' E. (612) [tied to object, RTS 24/8/2004].



 
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