Dinka arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1917.25.80
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan?] [White Nile]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1917
Materials:
Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal , Resin Plant , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Carved , Perforated , Tied , Repaired (local)
Dimensions:
Outside L = 94.6 mm, outside W = 82 mm, Ht = 59 mm, th = 7.7 mm, th with resin = 12.5 mm, W hide strips = 2.5 mm, diam holes = 3 mm, inside dimensions (measured at top edge) = 75 by 65 mm
Weight:
184.1 g
Other Owners:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably collected in the period immediately before World War I (1909-1914) [RTS 1/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
PRM Source:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
Acquired:
Donated 1917
Collected Date:
By 1917
Description:
Arm ornament, originally annular, carved from a single piece of ivory into an oval ring with flat inside face and broad, slightly convex outer face with rounded edges.
The inside face has been coated with an irregular lining of dark reddish brown resin, probably in order to make the armlet fit the wearer more comfortably.
The body appears to have broken at some stage in the past, leaving a small section representing one quarter of the object's circumference as a loose fragment, which was subsequently reattached.
This was achieved by drilling three circular holes down both sides of one of the two broken edges, and two sets of holes across the top and base of the other broken edge.
Thin strips of animal hide were used to tie these sets of holes together.
On the side with three pairs of holes, these strips were passed through each pair of holes twice, then knotted on the inside face of the armlet.
On the other broken edge, a single loop of hide was passed through the bottom hole and knotted on the outside face.
The top hole is fastened with a thinner strip of hide, passed several times through the hole and also knotted on the outside.
This strip has a different appearance to the others and may be a later addition.
The object is complete, but no longer its original shape, as although the broken edges align with one another, it would appear that the ivory had distorted between breakage and mending, and the joining fragment no longer fits in the gap, overlapping the broken edge on one side.
This fragment has also been damaged on its inside face, and has only faint traces of the resin coating left.
Apart from the weathered section, the ivory is currently a strong yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7403C).
The armlet measures 94.6 by 82 mm across its outside edges, and 75 by 65 mm across its inside edges, as measured from the top; this is narrower at the centre of the object where the resin is thicker.
It has a height of 59 mm, and a thickness of 7.7 mm (ivory only), or 12.5 mm (ivory and resin lining measured together).
The holes have a diameter of 3 mm, and the hide strips are 2.5 mm wide.
The object weighs 184.1 grams.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region.
This object is said to be made from elephant ivory. Fisher mentions that resin was sometimes packed inside Upper Nile ivory armlets to make them fit the wearer (A. Fisher 1984, Africa adorned, p. 64). Domville Fife suggested that ivory bangles were worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet, but gives it the name afjok . This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok , meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round) (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 106).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region.
This object is said to be made from elephant ivory. Fisher mentions that resin was sometimes packed inside Upper Nile ivory armlets to make them fit the wearer (A. Fisher 1984, Africa adorned, p. 64). Domville Fife suggested that ivory bangles were worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet, but gives it the name afjok . This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok , meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round) (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 106).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[VI, p.
54] - 1917 [pencil insert] 25 [end insert]
MAJOR R.G.
GAYER-ANDERSON
, R.A.M.C.
The Lodge, Old Marston, Oxon [pencil insert, p.
56] 77-82 [end insert] - [1 of] 6 Dinka armlets of elephant ivory, White Nile.
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.77-80 Nos given AP [red biro] A20 F10 21.
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, as a group for the six armlets, but is annotated with three negative numbers: A20.F10.15, A20.F10.21 and A20.F10.23. It is not clear which number belongs with which object [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.77-80 Nos given AP [red biro] A20 F10 21.
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, as a group for the six armlets, but is annotated with three negative numbers: A20.F10.15, A20.F10.21 and A20.F10.23. It is not clear which number belongs with which object [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
