Anuak stool
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1936.10.61
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Anywaa [Anuak]
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved
Dimensions:
Ht = 190, seat L = 363, W = 120, th = 17; feet W = 117, th = 67 mm [RTS 11/4/2005].
Weight:
>1000 g
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:
Canoe stool carved from a single piece of yellowish wood (Pantone 7509C) and consisting of a narrow rectangular seat with flat upper surface, slightly concave along both width and length.
This overhangs four very heavy and solid legs that are joined together at the top and then splay down and outwards in two pairs, angling slightly away from each other.
These are sub-rectangular in section, with curved ends, flat outer faces and flat bases, although the stool actually rests on the inside edge of each foot.
Tool marks are clearly visible across most surfaces, except for the seat itself where they have been largely smoothed away.
The object is complete, but the wood is beginning to crack along the seat top and horizontally across the legs; there is also some damage on the underside of two of the feet and some material adhering to one leg that may be the traces of an inscription of some kind in black paint (9 V?).
The stool is 190 mm high, and the seat is 363 mm long, 120 mm wide and 17 mm thick; a typical foot is 117 mm wide and 67 mm thick.
Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard during his fieldwork amongst the Anuak, which took place between early March and May 1935.
This stool is much heavier than most Nilotic stools, presumably to give it stability, as it was designed for use in a canoe. See E.E. Evans-Pritchard, The Political System of the Anuak, p. 56.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard during his fieldwork amongst the Anuak, which took place between early March and May 1935.
This stool is much heavier than most Nilotic stools, presumably to give it stability, as it was designed for use in a canoe. See E.E. Evans-Pritchard, The Political System of the Anuak, p. 56.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
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] 61 [end insert] - Heavy 4-legged canoe-stool, ANUAK.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Anuak. Heavy 4-legged wooden canoe stool. Coll. E.E. Evans-Pritchard and donated by him 1936. 1936.10.61 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 9/4/2005].
Written on object - Canoe-stoool. ANUAK E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard, 1936 [RTS 9/4/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Anuak. Heavy 4-legged wooden canoe stool. Coll. E.E. Evans-Pritchard and donated by him 1936. 1936.10.61 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 9/4/2005].
Written on object - Canoe-stoool. ANUAK E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard, 1936 [RTS 9/4/2005].
