Anuak fringe apron
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1936.10.64
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Anywaa [Anuak]
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Plant Fibre , Clay
Process:
Twisted , Tied , Handbuilt , Dried
Dimensions:
W across top with ties extended = 780; body W = 550, L = 180, diam cord = 2, diam pellet = 6, L pellets = 20 to 30 mm [RTS 16/9/2005].
Weight:
301.8 g
Local Name:
tor
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:
Fringe apron or skirt, consisting of a length of twisted 2 fibre brown cord (Pantone 7531C), that can be used to tie the garment around the waist.
This has been used to attach a series of twisted yellow fibre cords (Pantone 7508C), made from single strands which were looped over the top of the waist cord and their bodies twisted together immediately below to create a single hanging piece.
This was then weighted just above the base with a roughly barrel-shaped pellet of dark brown clay (Pantone Cool Gray 11C).
These are not strictly speaking beads, as they were formed around the cords while the clay was still moist, and cannot be removed without breakage.
These mass together to make a thick fringe , while the pellets clash against each other to make a rattling sound.
The object is nearly complete, but several pellets have cracked and some are now missing, or fragmentary, while some of the fibre cord has partially untwisted, revealing the flat fibre strips from which it was made.
It has a weight of 301.8 grams, and is 780 mm wide, with the ties extended; the body section has a width of 550 mm and length of 180 mm; the fringe cords have a width of 2 mm, and the pellets vary from 20 to 30 mm in length, with a typical diameter of 6 mm.
Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak 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 was a dance skirt, worn by women; the clay beads would make a rattling sound as the wearer moved. It is known to the Anuak as tor.
This object is reminiscent of 1934.8.10, a Dinka snare made of horse hair weighted with clay.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak 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 was a dance skirt, worn by women; the clay beads would make a rattling sound as the wearer moved. It is known to the Anuak as tor.
This object is reminiscent of 1934.8.10, a Dinka snare made of horse hair weighted with clay.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
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] 64 [end insert] -
Tor
, woman’s dance-skirt - a fringe of short twisted cords, weighted with barrel-shaped beads of clay (?), ANUAK.
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Tor , woman's dance skirt. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1936 [rectangular metal-edged label, tied to object; RTS 16/9/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Tor , woman's dance skirt. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1936 [rectangular metal-edged label, tied to object; RTS 16/9/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
