Iron spear
Accession Number:
[1884.19.156]
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [White Nile]
Date Made:
?Before 1865
Materials:
Iron Metal
Other Owners:
Collected in the Sudan by John Petherick in the mid nineteenth century, possibly during his earlier period in the country, sometime between 1853 and 1858. Material from this period was shipped back to England in 1859, and subsequently sold at auction by M
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
1853 - 1859 or 1861 - 1865
Description:
Iron spear with large leaf-shaped blade.
Collected in the Southern Sudan by John Petherick in the mid nineteenth century, possibly during his earlier period in the country, sometime between 1853 and 1858. Material from this period was shipped back to England in 1859, and subsequently sold at auction by Mr Bullock at High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1962 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This auction contained 51 spears of varying types, from groups including the Bongo, Murle, Dinka, Shilluk, Bari, Zande and Jur. It is also possible that Petherick obtained it during his second period in the Sudan, between 1862 and 1865; the date of the auction of that material is not known, although some items were bought from it by the Royal United Services Institution. Pitt Rivers may have purchased the item at either auction. He sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874. It was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum and transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected in the Southern Sudan by John Petherick in the mid nineteenth century, possibly during his earlier period in the country, sometime between 1853 and 1858. Material from this period was shipped back to England in 1859, and subsequently sold at auction by Mr Bullock at High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1962 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This auction contained 51 spears of varying types, from groups including the Bongo, Murle, Dinka, Shilluk, Bari, Zande and Jur. It is also possible that Petherick obtained it during his second period in the Sudan, between 1862 and 1865; the date of the auction of that material is not known, although some items were bought from it by the Royal United Services Institution. Pitt Rivers may have purchased the item at either auction. He sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, probably in 1874. It was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum and transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book IV entry
[p.
37] [insert] 1884.19 3-figure nos refer to P.R.
(A.L.F.) printed cat.
of weapons [end insert]
WEAPONS SPEARS DARTS
[p.
41, insert] 156 [end insert] - 724
-
Spear, entirely of iron, with large leaf-shaped blade.
WHITE NILE.
Petherick coll.
(681 black).
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [page opposite 41] - ibid [P.R. Cat. 'GABOON, W. AFRICA').
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert] (spears) Spear entirely iron, large leaf blade, White Nile, E[ast] C[entral] Africa. P.R. 724.
Black book entry [p. 24] - S[creen] 30. 681. Spear, leaf-shaped, iron shaft. E. C. Africa. Obtd by Petherick (724). [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 147] - Iron headed spears from different parts of Africa [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert] spear, iron 681. 724. Screen 70, 198 & 199.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 116] - SCREEN 30. AFRICAN IRON-HEADED SPEARS. 724. Iron SPEAR with leaf-shaped head and iron shaft. White Nile, East Central Africa. Obtained by Consul Petherick.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [page opposite 41] - ibid [P.R. Cat. 'GABOON, W. AFRICA').
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert] (spears) Spear entirely iron, large leaf blade, White Nile, E[ast] C[entral] Africa. P.R. 724.
Black book entry [p. 24] - S[creen] 30. 681. Spear, leaf-shaped, iron shaft. E. C. Africa. Obtd by Petherick (724). [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 147] - Iron headed spears from different parts of Africa [insert] 1884.19.156 [end insert] spear, iron 681. 724. Screen 70, 198 & 199.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 116] - SCREEN 30. AFRICAN IRON-HEADED SPEARS. 724. Iron SPEAR with leaf-shaped head and iron shaft. White Nile, East Central Africa. Obtained by Consul Petherick.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A)[AP].
