Nuer tobacco container
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1937.34.65
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Gourd Plant , Tobacco Plant , ?Animal Dung , ?Earth
Process:
Hollowed , Dried
Dimensions:
Ht = 101 mm, Rim diam = 34, body L = 105 mm, body W = 100 mm [RTS 24/9/2004].
Weight:
185.9 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile [RTS 6/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1937
Collected Date:
October to November 1936
Description:
Vessel for holding tobacco, made from a globular gourd.
This has been roughly cut across the top to form an circular opening with uneven rim, with the walls turning out concavely below in a short neck before joining the body, which is globular with convex sides and base.
There is a small, naturally formed knot at the centre of the base underside.
The vessel has been filled almost to the brim with fibrous tobacco; this still has a strong scent.
At the surface, just below the mouth, there is a broken layer of a slightly different material, which may be the remains of a mud or dung seal with straw inclusions.
The surface is an opaque warm yellowish orange colour (Pantone 7510C).
The gourd is complete, but has some surface damage in the form of patches where the skin has flaked away and numerous shallow incisions or cuts running in all directions.
Although these could be an attempt at decoration, they seem too random for this to be the case.
The gourd has a weight of 185.9 grams, which includes the tobacco inside.
It is 101 mm high, with a rim diameter of 34 mm, and a body that measures 105 by 100 mm across.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
38, pencil in left column] 34 [ink]
E.E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD
, M.A., Exeter College.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, vis: [addition in different pen] (Coll.
in 1936) [p.
41, pencil] 65 [ink]
- Gourd with tobacco for smoking.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Description: Gourd with tobacco for smoking. Yellow gourd roughly spherical in shape containing a packed mass of brown tobacco. Max width c 10.6 cm height c 10 cm A hole at the stem end admits the tobacco People: Nuer tribe Locality: A-E Sudan Collected by: E. Evans-Pritchard How acquired: dd E. Evans-Pritchard 1937 [Drawing].
Written on object - Gourd with tobacco, for smoking. NUER, A.-E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard. 1937 [RTS 24/9/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Description: Gourd with tobacco for smoking. Yellow gourd roughly spherical in shape containing a packed mass of brown tobacco. Max width c 10.6 cm height c 10 cm A hole at the stem end admits the tobacco People: Nuer tribe Locality: A-E Sudan Collected by: E. Evans-Pritchard How acquired: dd E. Evans-Pritchard 1937 [Drawing].
Written on object - Gourd with tobacco, for smoking. NUER, A.-E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard. 1937 [RTS 24/9/2004].
