Toposa spoon

1979.20.197

Sudan

[Southern Sudan]

Toposa

By 1980

Wood Plant , Animal Hide Skin

Carved , Polished , Perforated , Plaited , Tied

L = 344 mm, W handle end = 14.5 mm, th handle end = 11 mm, W handle centre = 15.7 mm, th handle centre = 15 mm, diam hole = 4 mm; L bowl = 89 mm, W bowl = 61 mm, Ht bowl = 22 mm, depth bowl = 13.8 mm, W hide loop = 4 mm, th hide loop = 2 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 yellow wood (Pantone 7407C), with the top cut slightly convex and sloping, and the handle long and irregularly shaped with several indentations and dips along the surface due to flaws in the original piece of wood. The handle is ovoid in plan view, and has been pierced just below the top with a circular hole, blackened around the edges and inside; this was probably burnt through using a heated tool. At the other end, the handle is flattened on top where it joins onto a shallow bowl with thin rim, concave interior hollow and convex underside. This is lentoid in plan view, and is pointed at either end. On its underside, the handle continues along the base of the bowl as a tapering, narrow raised rib that extends to the tip of the bowl, presumably to strengthen the place where these two elements join. A narrow strip of hide has been threaded through the suspension hole at the top of the handle, bent into a loop and then split at either end, with the split ends plaited together to form a projecting tab that serves to keep the loop fastened and secure. A long, narrow yellow hide strip with traces of light buff coloured animal hair has been passed twice through this loop and two others that have spoons 1979.20.195-6 attached, before being knotted off, leaving one short and one long end trailing. The group as a whole weighs 194.9 grams. This spoon is complete and intact, and the surface has been polished. It has a length of 344 mm; the handle measures 14.5 mm by 11 mm at its end, and 15.7 by 15 mm at its centre; the hole has a diameter of 4 mm; the spoon bowl is 89 mm long, 61 mm wide, 22 mm high and 13.8 mm deep, while the hide loop through the handle hole is 4 mm wide and 2 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].197 Light wood; Total L = 34.2 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].

Written on object - TOPOSA SUDAN. P. Langton coll. 1979.20.197 [RTS 21/6/2004].