Zande stool
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1948.2.139
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Wood Plant , Pigment
Process:
Carved , Decorated , Incised , Notched , Grooved , Stained
Dimensions:
Ht = 290; seat diam = 438 x 430, th = 40; hand grip L = 81, W = 20; pedestal L = 200, W = 200; base diam = 340 x 338, th = 42 mm [RTS 13/5/2005].
Weight:
>1000 g
Local Name:
mbata?
Other Owners:
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930 [CM; RTS 6/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Found unentered February 1948
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Stool carved from a single block of wood, consisting of a slightly oval seat with narrow flat rim and slightly recessed centre; an oval hand grip has been cut near one edge.
The sides and underside of the seat are flat, turning out to a solid pedestal foot, the centre of which is square in section and elaborately carved with a v-shaped groove cut down the middle of each side, and bisected by 4 deep u-shaped grooves that run in parallel rows around the pedestal.
At its base, this turns out to a splaying solid disc foot with a bevelled outer edge and flat underside.
The stool has also been embellished with incised designs, which cover the flat upper rim and outer edge of the seat; this pattern repeats on both areas, and consists of 9 pairs of short vertical lines, that cut across 2 parallel lines encircling the object.
Oblique hatching flanks these lines, running in opposing directions on the inner and outer edges of this surface area.
This creates a 'chevron' effect where the top and side edges of the seat meet at an angle.
In addition, the upper surface of the splaying foot has been decorated with four pairs of lines running from the pedestal to its outer edge, spaced equidistantly around the surface.
Finally, there are a series of triangular notches cut into the upper edge of the base.
Most of the surface of the stool has been stained a dark brownish black colour (Pantone black 7C) with a matt finish, that has partially worn away; the recessed seat and base underside have been left the natural yellowish brown colour of the wood (Pantone 7508C).
The object is complete, but has some surface damage, particularly around the edges, with traces of insect bore holes visible in the seat and a few cracks across its surface.
It is 290 mm high, with a seat diameter of 438 by 430 mm and thickness of 40 mm; the hand grip is 81 mm long and 20 mm wide; the pedestal is 200 by 200 mm long at its centre, while the base has a diameter of 340 by 338 mm and is 42 mm thick.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.
This stool has a similar design to 1948.2.138 and 1970.38.10-11, which share the style of the seat, with handle hole on a pedestal foot with disc base; however the pedestal on these other examples have been fenestrated, which is not the case here.
Evans-Pritchard photographed a similar type of stool being manufactured by the Zande woodworker Kisanga - see the photographic archives for accession numbers 1998.341.22, 1998.341.79, 1998.341.316 and 1998.341.319 where a nearly completed stool is being stained by applying a liquid to it from a clay pot boiling on a fire, showing that, unlike some of the wooden bowls, stools were stained by the craftsman, not the subsequent owner. Other images show Kisanga using an adze to carve out the wood (e.g.: 1998.341.27, although in this case the stool has a square top - either because it is unfinished, or because it is a slightly different form). This type of stool also appears in images 1998.341.152, 1998.341.185 and 1998.341.502, and being sat on by men in 1998.341.206 and 1998.341.211.
Larken describes these stools as follows: "Solid wood… is employed in the manufacture of the stools, mbata , which are made after the fashion of this dish [a circular dish on a pedestal stem, sometimes pierced, with round base]; the seat is slightly hollowed so that there is a flat raised rim at the circumference, and is usually pierced so that it may be hung up by a cord out of the way of white ants. Such stools are about a foot in height, or rather more, the diameter being the same, though bigger ones are not uncommon … sections of logs … must be used for the standing dishes, stools and mortars." (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 132).
This style of object seems to be produced also by the Mangbetu, called nobarra, and carved by male craftsmen. These stools were used by Mangbetu women, who sometimes passed a carrying strap around the top of the pedestal and through the hand grip, with the strap either going across the forehead so the stool could hang down their back, or over one shoulder (see E. Schildkrout & C.A. Keim, 1990, African Reflections , pp 119-121, fig. 6.25, and photos showing these stools in use, figure 7.3 and 7.5).
Rachael Sparks 23/08/2005.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.
This stool has a similar design to 1948.2.138 and 1970.38.10-11, which share the style of the seat, with handle hole on a pedestal foot with disc base; however the pedestal on these other examples have been fenestrated, which is not the case here.
Evans-Pritchard photographed a similar type of stool being manufactured by the Zande woodworker Kisanga - see the photographic archives for accession numbers 1998.341.22, 1998.341.79, 1998.341.316 and 1998.341.319 where a nearly completed stool is being stained by applying a liquid to it from a clay pot boiling on a fire, showing that, unlike some of the wooden bowls, stools were stained by the craftsman, not the subsequent owner. Other images show Kisanga using an adze to carve out the wood (e.g.: 1998.341.27, although in this case the stool has a square top - either because it is unfinished, or because it is a slightly different form). This type of stool also appears in images 1998.341.152, 1998.341.185 and 1998.341.502, and being sat on by men in 1998.341.206 and 1998.341.211.
Larken describes these stools as follows: "Solid wood… is employed in the manufacture of the stools, mbata , which are made after the fashion of this dish [a circular dish on a pedestal stem, sometimes pierced, with round base]; the seat is slightly hollowed so that there is a flat raised rim at the circumference, and is usually pierced so that it may be hung up by a cord out of the way of white ants. Such stools are about a foot in height, or rather more, the diameter being the same, though bigger ones are not uncommon … sections of logs … must be used for the standing dishes, stools and mortars." (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 132).
This style of object seems to be produced also by the Mangbetu, called nobarra, and carved by male craftsmen. These stools were used by Mangbetu women, who sometimes passed a carrying strap around the top of the pedestal and through the hand grip, with the strap either going across the forehead so the stool could hang down their back, or over one shoulder (see E. Schildkrout & C.A. Keim, 1990, African Reflections , pp 119-121, fig. 6.25, and photos showing these stools in use, figure 7.3 and 7.5).
Rachael Sparks 23/08/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
264] - E.
E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, OXFORD.
Found unentered; collected by donor.
[p, 266] 1948.2.139 - ZANDE.
Flat topped wooden
platter
[insert] stool [end insert] with wooden plinth carved with corrugations on a circular base.
Incised chevron pattern round the rim of the platter.
17" across, height 11".
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 266] - 1948.1.139 [ditto marks copying previous annotation, = Identified as stool by donor (10.10.58)].
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, but adds that the plinth is square [RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, ZANDE. Wooden stool with circular seat on solid, square sectioned pedestal foot with circular base. Coll. E.E. Evans-Pritchard. Found unentered Feb. 1948. 1948.2.139 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 9/4/2005].
Written on object - ZANDE 1948.2.139. d.d. EVANS-PRITCHARD [RTS 9/4/2005].
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 266] - 1948.1.139 [ditto marks copying previous annotation, = Identified as stool by donor (10.10.58)].
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, but adds that the plinth is square [RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, ZANDE. Wooden stool with circular seat on solid, square sectioned pedestal foot with circular base. Coll. E.E. Evans-Pritchard. Found unentered Feb. 1948. 1948.2.139 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 9/4/2005].
Written on object - ZANDE 1948.2.139. d.d. EVANS-PRITCHARD [RTS 9/4/2005].
