Zande rattle
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1931.66.4
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Iron Metal , Wood Plant , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Bent , Perforated , Carved , Stained Tied
Dimensions:
Total L = 260; Bell W = 96, L = 30, depth = 27.5; handle head L = 52, W = 37.3, th = 23.3; handle shaft W = 21, th = 20; total L handle = 230; thong W = 4.5, th = 2 mm [RTS 6/9/2005].
Weight:
123.6 g
Other Owners:
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:
Donated December 1931
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Vessel rattle consisting of a single pellet bell mounted onto the top of a wooden handle.
The bell has been made from an oval sheet of iron, doubled over at the centre to form a crescent-shaped body with lentoid plan view that encloses a small spherical iron pellet.
The edges of the bell have been pressed together at either end, leaving a narrow slit running across the mouth.
The bell has been perforated with two holes across the back, which rests across the top of the handle.
The handle itself is carved from a single piece of wood, and consists of a rectangular head and cylindrical shaft with hollow base.
Holes have also been bored down either side of the head, using a heated tool that has left scorch marks and a groove on the shaft below.
A narrow hide thong has been threaded up one hole, through the back of the bell, and down the other side, then tied in place with a knot at the base of the head, with the trailing ends tied off again on the other side of the handle.
The handle is a reddish brown colour, probably stained (Pantone 730C); the iron is a metallic silver colour (Pantone 877C) and the thong is yellowish brown (Pantone 7509C).
The rattle is complete; there is some possible damage to the iron at one end of the bell, which has some traces of surface rust, and some wear to the handle head.
It has a weight of 123.6 grams and a total length of 260 mm.
The bell is 96 mm wide, 30 mm long and 27.5 mm deep; the handle head is 52 mm long, 37.3 mm wide and 23.3 mm thick, while the handle shaft is 21 mm wide and 20 mm thick; the total length of the handle is 230 mm, and the hide thong has a width of 4.5 mm and is 2 mm thick.
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.
For a second Zande rattle, with double bell at the top, see 1931.66.5; the two may have been used as a pair. Double bells are also found on the top of 1930.86.60.1-2. These instruments were hand-held, and seem to have been used in ceremonial dances or as musical accompaniment for songs. Evans-Pritchard describes how Zande witchdoctors prepare for a dance; they tie a string of nut clapper bells around their waist, and bunches of orange seeds around legs, ankles and sometimes arms, and hold these rattles in their hands, shaking them up and down during the performance. "As he dances each witch-doctor is in himself a complete orchestra, which rattles and rings and bangs to the rhythm of the drums" ( E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1937, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande , pp 157-158; see also pls XIV-XVII). Several images in the Pitt Rivers Museum photographic archive show this type of rattle in use by a group of abinza (witch-doctors, singular binza) during the do avure, a ceremony that took place as part of the initiation of a new member (see 1998.341.563), as well as by 'song leaders' (1998.341.182 and 1998.341.297).
A line drawing by E.S. Thomas is published in E.E. Evans-Pritchard's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (Oxford University Press, 1937), Fig. 1 (right), p. 158. They are described as 'Witch-doctor hand bells'.
Rachael Sparks & Chris Morton 19/9/2005
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.
For a second Zande rattle, with double bell at the top, see 1931.66.5; the two may have been used as a pair. Double bells are also found on the top of 1930.86.60.1-2. These instruments were hand-held, and seem to have been used in ceremonial dances or as musical accompaniment for songs. Evans-Pritchard describes how Zande witchdoctors prepare for a dance; they tie a string of nut clapper bells around their waist, and bunches of orange seeds around legs, ankles and sometimes arms, and hold these rattles in their hands, shaking them up and down during the performance. "As he dances each witch-doctor is in himself a complete orchestra, which rattles and rings and bangs to the rhythm of the drums" ( E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1937, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande , pp 157-158; see also pls XIV-XVII). Several images in the Pitt Rivers Museum photographic archive show this type of rattle in use by a group of abinza (witch-doctors, singular binza) during the do avure, a ceremony that took place as part of the initiation of a new member (see 1998.341.563), as well as by 'song leaders' (1998.341.182 and 1998.341.297).
A line drawing by E.S. Thomas is published in E.E. Evans-Pritchard's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (Oxford University Press, 1937), Fig. 1 (right), p. 158. They are described as 'Witch-doctor hand bells'.
Rachael Sparks & Chris Morton 19/9/2005
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.
[insert, in pencil] 4-5 [end insert] - [1 of] 2 Hand-bells, consisting of wooden handles with iron pellet-bell attached to one end with hide thongs (one of them has two of the bells attached) [1931.66.5].
AZANDE.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 3/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Zande tribe. Vessel rattle with iron pellet bell on wood handle. d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard 1933.66.4 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 6/9/2005].
Written on object - Hand bell, AZANDE, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1931 [RTS 1/9/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 3/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Zande tribe. Vessel rattle with iron pellet bell on wood handle. d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard 1933.66.4 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 6/9/2005].
Written on object - Hand bell, AZANDE, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1931 [RTS 1/9/2005].
Publication History:
A line drawing by E.S.
Thomas is published in E.E.
Evans-Pritchard's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (Oxford University Press, 1937), Fig.
1 (right), p.
158.
They are described as 'Witch-doctor hand bells' [Chris Morton 10/12/2003]
