Moru lip plug
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1884.84.84
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Andiboro
Cultural Group:
?Moru
Date Made:
?Before 20th January 1863
Materials:
Stone , ?Quartz Stone
Process:
Ground , Polished
Dimensions:
L = 46.5 mm, Max W top = 10.6 mm, Max Th top = 9.1 mm [RTS 18/5/2004].
Weight:
6.9 g
Other Owners:
Probably collected by Petherick on 20th January 1863, when he visited the Moro village of Andiboro en-route to Gondokoro, and shipped back to England in 1865. Some of the material from this expedition were sold on at that time, with buyers including the R
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
20th January 1863
Description:
Lip plug made from a translucent white piece of stone, possibly rock crystal or another form of quartz; this is slightly yellow when held up to the light (Pantone 7534C) and is slightly flawed.
It has been ground to shape, with a flat, polished oval top, and long narrow body that tapers to a point at the other end.
The object is complete and intact, measuring 46.5 mm in length, and 10.6 by 9.1 mm across its top edge, with a weight of 6.9 grams.
Probably collected by Petherick on 20th January 1863, when he visited the Moro village of Andiboro en-route to Gondokoro, and shipped back to England in 1865. Some of the material from this expedition were sold on at that time, with buyers including the Royal United Services Institution. Pitt Rivers may have obtained the item during this period. He later sent it on to the Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874, and it was later displayed at the South Kensington Museum, before being transferred from there in 1884, when it formed part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum.
Petherick described the way in which Moro women used this kind of lip ornament as follows: 'The women [wear] a cone of spar in each lip, that in the under one six inches in length, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter at the base, its weight drawing down the lip and displaying the teeth ...' (J. & K. Petherick, 1869, Travels in Central Africa , p. 289). A figure on p. 290 of this volume is captioned 'ornaments, Andiboora', and shows a woman wearing a lip plug of this type. For a very similar lip plug attributed to the Zande, see 1886.1.519. In later periods, recycled glass seems to have been used for this kind of ornament, perhaps as a substitute material (see 1934.8.92, 1940.7.074 and 1940.7.0310).
Rachael Sparks 6/9/2005.
Probably collected by Petherick on 20th January 1863, when he visited the Moro village of Andiboro en-route to Gondokoro, and shipped back to England in 1865. Some of the material from this expedition were sold on at that time, with buyers including the Royal United Services Institution. Pitt Rivers may have obtained the item during this period. He later sent it on to the Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874, and it was later displayed at the South Kensington Museum, before being transferred from there in 1884, when it formed part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum.
Petherick described the way in which Moro women used this kind of lip ornament as follows: 'The women [wear] a cone of spar in each lip, that in the under one six inches in length, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter at the base, its weight drawing down the lip and displaying the teeth ...' (J. & K. Petherick, 1869, Travels in Central Africa , p. 289). A figure on p. 290 of this volume is captioned 'ornaments, Andiboora', and shows a woman wearing a lip plug of this type. For a very similar lip plug attributed to the Zande, see 1886.1.519. In later periods, recycled glass seems to have been used for this kind of ornament, perhaps as a substitute material (see 1934.8.92, 1940.7.074 and 1940.7.0310).
Rachael Sparks 6/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book V entry
[p.
9]
-
DEFORMATION.
PERSONAL ORNAMENT LIP-STUDS [insert] 1884.84 84 [end insert] [insert] e) [end insert] - Conical lip peg of translucent 'milky' stone.
DOR.
C.
AFRICA.
Petherick coll.
(?1611 black) [Note that the attribution to the Dor may be incorrect; see below - RTS 11/5/2004].
Additional Accession Book V Entry [p. opposite 9] - e [drawing].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [p. 195] [insert] 1884.84.84 [end insert]. Peg shaped lip stud of translucent stone - DOR. (?black 1611). [p. 197] [insert] BONGO is tribe's name for itself. They are called DOR by neighbours [end insert, by BB]. [Note that the attribution to the Dor may be incorrect; see below - RTS 11/5/2004].
Black book entry [p. 66] - 1611. [insert] 1884.84.78-92 (not 85) [end insert] [insert] 1884.140.585 [end insert]. Lip-studs, wood. Dor tribe, C. Africa (8). Stone lip ornament. Andiboora [insert] ?Andorobo [end insert] [insert] compl[etely] new entry [end insert] C. Africa, obtd by Petherick. Obsidian lip ornament (3), Mexico; Wood lip ornament (2) Queen Charlotte's I[sland] (2) or Vancouvers Is[land] (2), Lip ornament or burnisher, Mexico. p. 109.
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 300] - Personal Ornaments of various Nations [p. 304] 1 lip ornament, stone 'Andiboora' (Central Africa), 1611. Case 74, 345.
Card Catalogue Entry - The card repeats the accession book entry, but gives the collection date as 1858. As this date is not given on any of the original book entries, it may not be reliable, and would seem to be contradicted by the information provided by Petherick in his various publications, which suggest that he only visited Andiboora for a single day, in 1863 [RTS 6/4/2004].
Written on object - DOR, CENTRAL AFRICA, PETHERICK COLLN. 1884.84.84 P.R. coll. (?1611) [see discussion below as to why this information may be incorrect; RTS 11/5/2004].
Additional Accession Book V Entry [p. opposite 9] - e [drawing].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [p. 195] [insert] 1884.84.84 [end insert]. Peg shaped lip stud of translucent stone - DOR. (?black 1611). [p. 197] [insert] BONGO is tribe's name for itself. They are called DOR by neighbours [end insert, by BB]. [Note that the attribution to the Dor may be incorrect; see below - RTS 11/5/2004].
Black book entry [p. 66] - 1611. [insert] 1884.84.78-92 (not 85) [end insert] [insert] 1884.140.585 [end insert]. Lip-studs, wood. Dor tribe, C. Africa (8). Stone lip ornament. Andiboora [insert] ?Andorobo [end insert] [insert] compl[etely] new entry [end insert] C. Africa, obtd by Petherick. Obsidian lip ornament (3), Mexico; Wood lip ornament (2) Queen Charlotte's I[sland] (2) or Vancouvers Is[land] (2), Lip ornament or burnisher, Mexico. p. 109.
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 300] - Personal Ornaments of various Nations [p. 304] 1 lip ornament, stone 'Andiboora' (Central Africa), 1611. Case 74, 345.
Card Catalogue Entry - The card repeats the accession book entry, but gives the collection date as 1858. As this date is not given on any of the original book entries, it may not be reliable, and would seem to be contradicted by the information provided by Petherick in his various publications, which suggest that he only visited Andiboora for a single day, in 1863 [RTS 6/4/2004].
Written on object - DOR, CENTRAL AFRICA, PETHERICK COLLN. 1884.84.84 P.R. coll. (?1611) [see discussion below as to why this information may be incorrect; RTS 11/5/2004].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A) [AP].
