Toposa spoon

1979.20.195

Sudan

[Southern Sudan]

Toposa

By 1980

Wood Plant , Animal Hide Skin

Carved , ?Stained , Perforated , Polished , Plaited , Tied

L = 360 mm, W handle top 14 mm, Th handle top = 13 mm, W handle centre = 15.5 mm, th handle centre = 14.7 mm, L bowl = 105 mm, W bowl = 60 mm, Ht bowl = 28 mm, depth bowl = 18.5 mm, W hide loop = 4 mm, th hide loop = 1 mm [RTS 21/6/2004].

194.9 g (of 3 spoons tied together)

This object was collected by Brian John Mack when working amongst the Toposa in the Southern Sudan in 1980. It appears to have been accessioned retrospectively as part of Patti Langton's collection later that year, using the same group number assigned to

Brian John Mack (known as John Mack).

Patti Langton

Purchased 1979

1980

Spoon carved from a single piece of wood with a dark reddish brown coloured surface, possibly stained and then polished (Pantone 175C). The top of the handle has been cut flat and is oval in plan view, like the rest of the handle which is long and has slightly uneven sides with a slight curvature. This has been pierced just below the top with a circular hole, bored at a slight angle and with a blackened interior; this was probably burnt through using a heated tool. At the other end, the handle joins onto a shallow bowl with thin everted rim, concave interior hollow and convex underside. This is lentoid in plan view and is pointed at both ends. On its underside, the handle continues along the base of the bowl as a tapering, slightly raised rib that extends to the end of the object, presumably to strengthen the junction of these two elements. A narrow strip of hide has been threaded through the handle hole and bent into a loop, with the ends split and plaited together to secure them. A long narrow yellow hide strip, still with some traces of light buff to cream coloured animal hair on one surface, has been passed twice through this loop and two others that have spoons 1979.20.196-7 attached, before being knotted off, leaving one short, and one long end trailing. The group as a whole weighs 194.9 grams. This individual spoon is 360 mm long; the handle measures 14 by 13 mm long at the end and 15.5 by 14.7 mm long at the centre; the hole has a diameter of 5 mm; the spoon bowl is 105 mm long, 60 mm wide, 28 mm high and 18.5 mm deep, while the hide loop through the handle hole is 4 mm wide and 1 mm thick.

This object was collected by Brian John Mack when working amongst the Toposa in the Southern Sudan in 1980. It appears to have been accessioned retrospectively as part of Patti Langton's collection later that year, using the same group number assigned to material from her 1979 expedition, which Mack had been a part of. However his 1980 fieldwork appears to have been undertaken independently of Langton, although she was working amongst the nearby Boya at the same time.

The collector did not record any further information on how this type of spoon was used, or the name that it was known by locally. Among other Nilotic cultures such as the Larim, they were used for eating (see 1979.20.151-152). For general discussions of the Toposa, see the article by Captain G.R. King in L.F. Nalder (ed.), 1937, A Tribal Survey of the Mongalla Province, pp 65-81 and A.C. Beaton, 1950, "Record of the Toposa Tribe", Sudan Notes and Records XXXI .

Rachael Sparks 20/08/2005.

Accession Book Entry [p. 185] - 1979.20 (.1 - 206) P[urchase] MISS PATTI LANGTON, DEPT. of ETHNOLOGY & PREHISTORY, OXFORD. Collection made by Patti Langton during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan; Jan. - April 1979. The collection was made in three culture areas during the dry season. The amount paid for each object is listed if the information is known. In Jan. 1979 £1 is equivalent to 95 piastres (pt.) Sudanese. This documentation is based largely upon Patti's own list of objects and her notes on these. Sometimes objects included in the Pitt Rivers alottment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here. See Related Documents file as well. [p. 214] 1979.20.194 - SOUTHERN SUDAN TOPOSA Collected in 1980 and sent via John Mack, Mus. of Mankind [p. 214] 1979.20.194 - 197 Four wooden spoons: [1979.20].195 brown wood; Total L = 36.5 cm. [1979.20.195 - 197] none decorated. All perforated and tied together with leather string.
Additional Accession Book Entry [beside accession numbers .195 - .197 in red biro] - A6-F25-2.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - S.SUDAN TOPOSA. 3 wooden spoons coll. by Pat Langton 1979.20.195-197 [plastic label with metal eyelet, stored in RDF; RTS 19/5/2005].