Nuer pipe bowl
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1931.66.21
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1931
Materials:
Pottery
Process:
Handbuilt , Modelled , Fire-Hardened , Incised , Impressed , Burnished
Dimensions:
L = 180, stem diam = 20, mouth diam = 13, W bowl body = 51.2, W bowl rim = 31, W bowl mouth = 26, base knob W = 26, th = 25, th walls = 3 mm [RTS 20/10/2004].
Weight:
284.7 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard either in the early part of 1930 (probably February to April), or between February and June of 1931 [CM; RTS 9/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated December 1931
Collected Date:
1930 - 1931
Description:
Pipe bowl from a tobacco pipe, hand made from a well levigated clay with some tiny gold coloured mica inclusions, fired a pinkish red throughout (Pantone 479C).
This seems to have been made in two sections, with the upper bowl stem pushed through the side wall of the bowl body to join the two parts together.
A series of vertical and oblique scratches in the bowl interior seem to have been made before firing.
The object consists of a long cylindrical body with flat topped rim, that ends in a narrow, convex-sided disc base with slightly concave underside.
The bowl section joins the upright body at an acute angle; the lower part of the bowl is swollen, with the sides tapering in towards the mouth, which has a slightly raised collar around the outside and a narrow flat topped rim.
The whole surface has been decorated using a combination of incised and impressed motifs arranged in broad bands that alternate with reserved areas that are not decorated, but carry a high burnish.
This gives a contrast between glossy and matt areas.
Apart from these reserved areas and the rim collar, the entire surface is covered with a series of tightly packed impressed dots; these are quite regular, and may have been achieved by impressing the surface onto a textile of some kind.
This gives the surface a dimpled effect.
In some areas, this dimpling is overlaid with incised crosshatching.
The arrangement of these motifs is as follows: the narrower stem is divided into three broad bands running around the circumference, with narrower reserved bands between framed by horizontal lines above and below.
The broad bands consist of a dimpled band, then two crosshatched and dimpled bands, with double parallel lines underneath this last section separating the stem from the bowl area.
The lower part of the bowl is covered with three vertical reserved bands, whose edges are formed by zigzags, with dimpled areas between.
The base knob is dimpled and crosshatched, with the dimpling covering its underside as well as the sides.
Finally, the upper part of the bowl has been decorated with a series of bands around its circumference, to emphasise the circular form.
These consist of two narrow areas of dimpling and crosshatching, alternating with one narrow and one thick reserved band, with the collar covered in simple incised crosshatching.
The object is complete and intact.
It does not carry a scent of tobacco, and as there are no scorching marks inside the bowl or stem, it is likely that this particular example was never actually used.
The pipe bowl has a weight of 284.7 grams, and is 180 mm long, with the top of the upper part measuring 20 mm across, with an opening of 13 mm, the bowl section having a width of 51.2 mm, and a rim diameter of 31 mm with the opening being 26 mm across, while the base knob is 26 by 25 mm wide.
The walls of the bowl have a thickness of 3 mm.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his first or second season of fieldwork amongst the Nuer, e.g.: in the early part of 1930 (February to April?) or 'the dry season' of 1931 (between February and June). In the former, he spent around three and a half months in Leek territory at Yahnyang and Pakur on the Bahr el Ghazal, in Lou territory at Muot Dit, and at Adok, amongst the Dok Nuer. In the latter, he spent five and a half months at Nasir, on the Nyanding River, and at Yakwat on the Sobat River (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, and the map of Evans-Pritchard's fieldwork in D.H. Johnson, "Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer, and the Sudan Political Service", African Affairs 81 no. 323, p. 233).
A sketch of earlier styles of Nuer pipes is published in J. & K. Petherick, 1869, Travels in Central Africa and Explorations of the Western Nile Tributaries, Vol. I, p. 119. They described the pipe of a Nuer chief from the village of Aliab as follows: "He carried a pipe with a capacious bowl; the tube is hollowed, one and a half inches in diameter; it is crammed with thin fibres of bark, like coarse hemp, which, when thoroughly saturated with nicotine, is greedily chewed by the men and married women. As a mark of respect and friendship, the quid is passed from one to another…” (op.cit., p. 420). Domville Fife also discusses the manufacture and use of Nuer pipes, as he observed it at the village of Hillet-el-Nuer in the 1920's: "The bowl is fashioned of clay and is fitted with a reed stem about 30 inches long, which has an immense mouthpiece made of calabash. Although tobacco is largely grown locally the smoking mixture of the Nuer is composed of the almost black leaves of the swamp variety of this plant, combined with a plentiful supply of charcoal and cow dung ... Both men and women smoke these curious pipes, and are frequently seen walking along supporting them with one hand while they do their work with the other" (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, pp 161-162).
It seems to be quite common to find mica mixed in with Sudanese clays. Schweinfurth noted this was the case for Bongo pottery, which he suggested made their wares very brittle; he believed this mix to be naturally occurring and that the Bongo potters did not know how to remove it from their fabrics (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, In the Heart of Africa Volume I, p. 292).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his first or second season of fieldwork amongst the Nuer, e.g.: in the early part of 1930 (February to April?) or 'the dry season' of 1931 (between February and June). In the former, he spent around three and a half months in Leek territory at Yahnyang and Pakur on the Bahr el Ghazal, in Lou territory at Muot Dit, and at Adok, amongst the Dok Nuer. In the latter, he spent five and a half months at Nasir, on the Nyanding River, and at Yakwat on the Sobat River (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, and the map of Evans-Pritchard's fieldwork in D.H. Johnson, "Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer, and the Sudan Political Service", African Affairs 81 no. 323, p. 233).
A sketch of earlier styles of Nuer pipes is published in J. & K. Petherick, 1869, Travels in Central Africa and Explorations of the Western Nile Tributaries, Vol. I, p. 119. They described the pipe of a Nuer chief from the village of Aliab as follows: "He carried a pipe with a capacious bowl; the tube is hollowed, one and a half inches in diameter; it is crammed with thin fibres of bark, like coarse hemp, which, when thoroughly saturated with nicotine, is greedily chewed by the men and married women. As a mark of respect and friendship, the quid is passed from one to another…” (op.cit., p. 420). Domville Fife also discusses the manufacture and use of Nuer pipes, as he observed it at the village of Hillet-el-Nuer in the 1920's: "The bowl is fashioned of clay and is fitted with a reed stem about 30 inches long, which has an immense mouthpiece made of calabash. Although tobacco is largely grown locally the smoking mixture of the Nuer is composed of the almost black leaves of the swamp variety of this plant, combined with a plentiful supply of charcoal and cow dung ... Both men and women smoke these curious pipes, and are frequently seen walking along supporting them with one hand while they do their work with the other" (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, pp 161-162).
It seems to be quite common to find mica mixed in with Sudanese clays. Schweinfurth noted this was the case for Bongo pottery, which he suggested made their wares very brittle; he believed this mix to be naturally occurring and that the Bongo potters did not know how to remove it from their fabrics (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, In the Heart of Africa Volume I, p. 292).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[IX, p.
16] 1931 [insert, in pencil] 66 [end insert]
E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD
, Esq.
Dec.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, viz.
[pencil insert, p.
18] 21 [end insert] - Bowl of tobacco-pipe, of red pottery, engraved, NUER.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 17] - 1931.66.21 No given AP l[ength] = 180 mm h[eight] = 110 mm [red biro] A20 F10 5.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Description: Tobacco pipe. Made of pottery, red in colour, large bowl and long cylindrical stem piece, rounded projection in front. Bowl and stem ornamented with bands of cross-hatching and dots, leaving between plain bands and 3 plain zig-zag bands on bowl. Length c 18 cm, bowl projection c 10 cm, outer width of bowl at top c 3.2 cm. People: Nuer. Locality: E. Sudan How Acquired: dd E. Evans-Pritchard 1931 [Drawing].
Written on object - NUER pipe, E. SUDAN. Pres. by E. Evans Pritchard [RTS 20/10/2004; partly worn away].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 17] - 1931.66.21 No given AP l[ength] = 180 mm h[eight] = 110 mm [red biro] A20 F10 5.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Description: Tobacco pipe. Made of pottery, red in colour, large bowl and long cylindrical stem piece, rounded projection in front. Bowl and stem ornamented with bands of cross-hatching and dots, leaving between plain bands and 3 plain zig-zag bands on bowl. Length c 18 cm, bowl projection c 10 cm, outer width of bowl at top c 3.2 cm. People: Nuer. Locality: E. Sudan How Acquired: dd E. Evans-Pritchard 1931 [Drawing].
Written on object - NUER pipe, E. SUDAN. Pres. by E. Evans Pritchard [RTS 20/10/2004; partly worn away].
