Acholi or Lango fringe apron
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1981.8.11
Country:
Uganda
Cultural Group:
?Lango ?Acholi
Date Made:
By 1910
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Cotton Yarn Plant , Grass Fibre Plant , String
Process:
Twisted , Stitched , Knotted , Perforated , Plaited
Dimensions:
L = 1100, belt W = 15.3, th = 5, hide strip W = 4; apron L = 140, W = 55, diam strings = 1; diam cord stitching = 1.8 mm [RTS 10/12/2004].
Weight:
60.8 g
Local Name:
?chip [cip]
Other Owners:
A.T.S. Fisher, son of collector.
Field Collector:
Mr Fisher (father of A.T.S. Fisher)
PRM Source:
A.T.S. Fisher
Acquired:
Donated March 1981
Collected Date:
1895 - 1910
Description:
Woman's waist garment, consisting of a narrow belt with a stringwork apron hanging down from the centre.
The belt body has been made from 3 horizontal bands sewn together, each composed of 2 narrow hide strips, perforated along their lengths and interwoven with one another to produce a herringbone pattern.
These strips have been placed side by side, and then stitched together using a length of 2 ply twisted grass fibre cord, that is passed backwards and forwards across the body through the gaps.
This is visible on either long side as a series of running stitches; it is a yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7509C).
The belt body has become compressed, creating a curved outer face and a concave inner face.
The cord is knotted off at one end, and left unknotted at the other, where a long length of it hangs loose; this may have been used to tie the belt in place around the waist.
The hide strips, which are an orangey to grayish brown colour (Pantone 4635C) are a paler yellow on their inner face.
These continue beyond the ends of the plaited belt body as individual lengths, that would perhaps have been bound together to create a stiff 'tail' when worn.
At the centre of the belt a narrow section of cream coloured stringwork has been added to form a small apron (Pantone 7401C).
This is made from lengths of cotton, possibly European, gathered into bundles and threaded through the hide to leave two sections of equal length hanging down from the inside face.
These are positioned side by side to create a massed stringwork body.
A small knot has been tied in the end of each piece of string; the cotton has spread to form a furry head just below.
The object is complete, and intact, and has a weight of 60.8 grams.
It has a length of 1100 mm, when extended; the belt is 15.3 mm wide and 5 mm thick, with each component hide strip being 4 mm wide; the stringwork apron is 140 mm long and 55 mm wide; each string piece has a diameter of 1 mm, while the cord stitching has a diameter of 1.8 mm.
This garment was obtained by Mr Fisher sometime between 1895 and 1910, and donated by his son, the Reverend A.T.S. Fisher in March 1981.
Similar stringwork aprons are worn by the Lango (1925.14.6) and possibly Acholi (see 1942.1.445-446); these are usually darker in colour and may be coated with ochre. Driberg discusses this type of garment in his book on the Lango: 'From about the age of five girls wear over the pudenda a few strings or threads (called chip) made from the hibiscus, increasing in number with the age of the wearer. There are attached to a thin leather girdle ( del ) which is fastened behind and twisted into a stick-like leather continuation ( achudi) which projects backwards. If the father is prosperous, an unmarried girl wears an ariko , or apron of small metal chains in place of threads. (J.H. Driberg 1923, The Lango, pp 64-65). The chip and achudi del are illustrated by a photograph opposite p. 64. According to Driberg, achudi is simply defined as a Protuberance or projection. ' Achudi del ' is specifically the projecting ends of this type of girdle (J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, p. 359, defined in his Lango-English dictionary at the back of the volume). The loose hide strips at the back of this example could be an unbound 'tail' of this type. Two decades after Driberg published his book on the Lango, Hayley observed that 'The chip is only worn on certain ceremonial occasions by the modern woman who wears clothes' (T.T.S Hayley, 1947, The Anatomy of Lango Religion and Groups, p. 183).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
This garment was obtained by Mr Fisher sometime between 1895 and 1910, and donated by his son, the Reverend A.T.S. Fisher in March 1981.
Similar stringwork aprons are worn by the Lango (1925.14.6) and possibly Acholi (see 1942.1.445-446); these are usually darker in colour and may be coated with ochre. Driberg discusses this type of garment in his book on the Lango: 'From about the age of five girls wear over the pudenda a few strings or threads (called chip) made from the hibiscus, increasing in number with the age of the wearer. There are attached to a thin leather girdle ( del ) which is fastened behind and twisted into a stick-like leather continuation ( achudi) which projects backwards. If the father is prosperous, an unmarried girl wears an ariko , or apron of small metal chains in place of threads. (J.H. Driberg 1923, The Lango, pp 64-65). The chip and achudi del are illustrated by a photograph opposite p. 64. According to Driberg, achudi is simply defined as a Protuberance or projection. ' Achudi del ' is specifically the projecting ends of this type of girdle (J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, p. 359, defined in his Lango-English dictionary at the back of the volume). The loose hide strips at the back of this example could be an unbound 'tail' of this type. Two decades after Driberg published his book on the Lango, Hayley observed that 'The chip is only worn on certain ceremonial occasions by the modern woman who wears clothes' (T.T.S Hayley, 1947, The Anatomy of Lango Religion and Groups, p. 183).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
- REV.
A.T.S.
FISHER, ...
WOLVERCOTE, OXFORD.
- UGANDA.
Specimens obtained by donor's father between 1895 & 1910.
Donated March 1981.
- Women's costume made of plaited hide strips and a bunch of cotton string; to go around the waist.
Total L = ca.
1.10 M.
Pitt Rivers Museum label - UGANDA. Women's costume. Coll. ca. 1895-1910. Don. Rev. A.T.S. Fisher. 1981.8.11 [plastic tag, tied to object; RTS 9/11/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - UGANDA. Women's costume. Coll. ca. 1895-1910. Don. Rev. A.T.S. Fisher. 1981.8.11 [plastic tag, tied to object; RTS 9/11/2004].
