Anuak bowl

1936.10.79

Sudan

[Southern Sudan]

Anywaa [Anuak]

By 1936

Gourd Plant , Plant Fibre , Grass Fibre Plant , Animal Hide Skin? , String , Pigment

Hollowed , Dried , Decorated , Incised Inlaid , Repaired (local) , Pyroengraved Pokerwork

Ht = 194, rim diam = 360 x 286, rim th = 3 mm [RTS 18/8/2005].

224.9 g

awäl

Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 [RTS 18/6/2004].

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Donated 1936

March - May 1935

Bowl made from a plant gourd, cut in half to create a hemispherical body with narrow, upright, flat-topped rim and convex base. The natural shape of the gourd means that this has a slight spout on one side of the rim, and turns inwards slightly on the opposite edge; it is oval in plan view. The outer surface is a glossy reddish orange colour (Pantone 7517C), while the interior is a matt yellow (Pantone 7508C). The upper surface of the rim has been blackened, possibly through burning, and the outer surface has been covered with incised decoration, coloured with a black pigment (Pantone Black 7C). This consists of 2 horizontal rows of crosshatched pendant triangles below the rim, points facing downwards, then a band of plaiting, composed of opposing pairs of oblique lines. These patterns break off at the spout and rim area directly opposite, in favour of 3 concentric arcs made up of similar triangles, framed around the base by a band of simple hatching on one side, and by a 'plaited' band on the other. The remaining part of the bowl has been decorated with a series of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures, arranged in three horizontal rows, with the animals all facing to the right and all depicted with rectangular bodies. The top row is broken up by the concentric arcs into 2 main bands. The first of these consists of 7 humpbacked cows, with udders, and arc-shaped horns, and distinctive body patterns made up of bands of crosshatching and incised dots. The second group depicts 3 larger, long-necked quadrupeds with chequer-patterned bodies, probably representing giraffes, and slightly above, a possibly human figure (with sword or spear?), an ox or bull with curving horns (not humpbacked), and a quadrupeds with curving horns, possibly a goat or wild animal such as oryx or antelope. The second row is continuous around the vessel, and depicts 15 quadrupeds with curling horns, a turtle or tortoise, 2 more quadrupeds and a lion. The quadrupeds represent more than one type of animal, as some have short, upward curling tails and others have long straight tails with bushy ends. Some have also been drawn in a more stylised fashion than others, with 2 single legs depicted rather than 4. These animals all have crosshatched bodies. The third row is also continuous around the surface, and and depicts a large snake, a lion, 2 standing anthropomorphic figures, what could be either a larger figure or a tree, and then an additional animal, similar to the lions but with a dotted body. At the base of the vessel, the design is finished off with a oval band of crosshatching. The bowl is complete, but has a series of cracks running across the surface. There have been local repairs at 4 places around the rim, done using two types of material and probably at different times, but using the same basic technique. This involves boring holes down either side of the crack, and sewing the two parts together with a stitch that crosses horizontally across the inside face of the join, but passes across other stitches at the front in a kind of lattice. There is one short vertical mend on the side opposite the spout, using a fibrous cord, possibly hide. A second mend has two lines of stitching meeting at the base, in a v-shape, further around the side of the rim, using a similar yellowish brown cord (Pantone 7508C), while a third mend nearby has been made using a flat strip of brown grass fibre (Pantone 729C). There is also a more modern mend, made using a copper staple and probably dating to some time after the object entered the museum's collections. It has also been perforated through the spout, and a copper hook fitted for display. The bowl has a weight of 224.9 grams and is 194 mm high, with a rim diameter of 360 by 286 mm and a rim thickness of 3 mm.

Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 (see (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Political System of the Anuak of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, p. 3).

This type of vessel was used for holding beer, water, or porridge, and is known locally as awäl. Although the rim may have been blackened by burning, the majority of decoration has been applied using a technique similar to that used by the Northern and Southern Larim, who incise a pattern into the surface using a needle, then rub charcoal over the lines to colour them (see 1979.20.150). It differs from that used by the Dinka, who mark out their designs in charcoal, cut them into the surface with an iron needle then burn them in using a heated spear or knife blade (for an example of this method, see 1979.20.91). The Nuer and Zande also use pyroengraving techniques.

It is illustrated in black and white as Fig. 10.10 on page 265 of '"Marvels of Everyday Vision": The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes', by Jeremy Coote, in Anthropology, Art, and Aesthetics (Oxford Studies in the Anthropology of Cultural Forms), edited by Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, pp. 245-272).

Rachael Sparks 18/8/2005.

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. 416] [insert] 79-81 [end insert] - [One of] 3 Large gourd bowls, awäl , for beer, water, or porridge, engraved all over the outside with figures of cattle, people, etc. etc. ANUAK.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 415] - 1936.10.79 Number given. LMC. H[eight] = 200 mm; max[imum] dia[meter] = 360 mm. [red biro insert above accession number] A13 F26.5-8.

Card Catalogue Entry - Catalogue card repeats the information given above, with reference to Coote 1992 publication, a copy of which is said to be in the RDF file [under collectors: Coote; RTS 30/1/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. ANUAK tribe. Gourd bowl with figured decoration. Coll. and d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard. 1936.10.79 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 18/8/2005].

Written on object - Awäl . Beer-bowl. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard 1936 [RTS 18/8/2005].

Illustrated in black and white as Fig. 10.10 on page 265 of '"Marvels of Everday Vision": The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes', by Jeremy Coote, in Anthropology, Art, and Aesthetics (Oxford Studies in the Anthropology of Cultural Forms), edited by Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, pp. 245-272). Caption (same page) reads: 'Anuak gourd bowl, incised with figures and decorative designs; collected by E. E. Evans-Pritchard in the Southern Sudan in the 1930s...'. [JC 7/1/2004]