Anuak flask

Other views of this artifact:

Accession Number:

1936.10.75

Country:

Sudan

Region:

[Southern Sudan]

Cultural Group:

Anywaa [Anuak]

Date Made:

By 1936

Materials:

Gourd Plant

Process:

Hollowed , Dried , Decorated , Painted

Dimensions:

Ht = 141 mm, Diam rim ext = 11 mm, rim int. = 8 mm, diam upper neck = 23.3 mm, lower neck = 14 mm, body diam = 61.3 mm, th walls = 1 to 2 mm [RTS 6/8/2004].

Weight:

15.3 g

Local Name:

nyagwei

Other Owners:

Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 [RTS 18/6/2004].

Field Collector:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1936

Collected Date:

March - May 1935

Description:

Small gourd cut across the top at a slight angle, with a long narrow neck that swells out convexly at the top before becoming virtually straight below, on a globular body with convex base. The surface is a reddish orange colour (Pantone 470C). The body appears to have been decorated with dark red paint or pigment (Pantone 4695C); the detail is very faint and difficult to make out. On one side there is a motif made from three horizontal lines crossed by four vertical and oblique lines, with a similar pattern on the opposite side. Both motifs taper slightly to the right. The object is complete and intact, except for a tiny hole at the centre of the base underside. There is a darker stain around this part, which could represent old leakage of the contents; a similar stain is present at the top of the neck (Pantone 4695C) - the same material may have been used to apply the decoration described above. There are also traces of what may be a resinous material around the hole, possibly an attempt at repair. A similar gourd in the collection is accompanied by a lid, but there is none present for this example. The gourd has a weight of 15.3 grams and is 141 mm tall, with a diameter across the rim of 11 mm and an aperture of 8 mm; the neck has a diameter of 23.3 by 23 mm at its widest point, and 14 mm at its narrowest point, while the body has a diameter of 61.3 mm. The walls are 1-2 mm thick.

Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Political System of the Anuak of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, p. 3). This type of object was used as a container for castor oil or cosmetics, and is known locally as nyagwei . For a similar Anuak flask, see 1936.10.76, which has a small disc lid attached to the body with fibre cord.

Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry [p. 410] - 1936 [insert] 10 [end insert] E. EVANS-PRITCHARD, M.A., Exeter College, Oxford. - Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, while travelling with a Grant from the Rockefeller Leverhulme Trustees, viz: [p. 416] [insert] 75-76 [end insert] - [One of] 2 small bottle-gourd flasks, nyagwei , for castor-oil or cosmetics, ANUAK.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 415] - 1936.10.75-76 numbers given L.W.

Card Catalogue Entry - The card repeats the information given in the accession book, with inserted information: 'l[ength] = 13.7 cm' and in red biro, 'A2-F33-4' [RTS 30/1/2004].