Anuak headrest

Anuak headrest
Other views of this artifact:


Accession Number:
1936.10.57
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Anywaa [Anuak]
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Hair
Process:
Rolled , Tied , Knotted
Dimensions:
L = 270, W = 106.3, th = 79.6; tie W = 7.6, tie th = 2.7 mm [RTS 17/5/2005].
Weight:
451.9 g
Local Name:
thänni
Other Owners:
Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 [RTS 18/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1936
Collected Date:
March - May 1935
Description:
Length of yellowish brown animal hide (Pantone 7507C), with orange, buff and black hair still attached. This has been folded so that the hair faces to the inside, and then rolled inwards from either end with the two halves meeting in a seam that runs down the centre of the length. The bundle was then secured with 2 narrow strips of hide tied around the body at either end; one of these is securely knotted, while the other is more loosely linked. It is not known whether this particular bundle contains any personal items, but it is complete in itself, although with a small hole in the outer layer of hide on one side. It has a weight of 451.9 grams and is 270 mm long, 106.3 mm wide and 79.6 mm thick, while the ties are 7.6 mm wide and 2.7 mm thick.

Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard during his fieldwork amongst the Anuak, which took place between early March and May 1935 (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Political System of the Anuak of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, p. 3).

This object is called
thänni by the Anuak. It was used by women as a pillow, and to hold ‘treasures’ rolled up inside.

Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.

Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry [p. 410] - 1936 [insert] 10 [end insert] E. EVANS-PRITCHARD, M.A., Exeter College, Oxford. - Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, while travelling with a Grant from the Rockefeller Leverhulme Trustees, viz: [p. 414] [insert] 57 [end insert] - Woman’s pillow & treasure-bundle combined, thänni , of rolled up hide with hair inside, ANUAK.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - Thänni , woman's pillow & treasure-holder. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard, 1936 [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 17/5/2005].



 
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