Nuer toy figure
Accession Number:
1937.34.72
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Clay
Process:
Modelled , Pinched
Dimensions:
Ht = 147, L = 114, W = 334 mm [RTS 21/10/2004].
Weight:
258.2 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile [RTS 6/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1937
Collected Date:
October to November 1936
Description:
Toy figure of a cow, hand modelled from a well levigated gray clay with tiny mica inclusions (Pantone 404C), dried in the sun.
This consists of a cylindrical torso, very slightly pulled up between the shoulders to form a small hump, with the front pinched in slightly to narrow at the chest.
The head area is poorly defined, but vaguely triangular, with two large cylindrical horns curving up above the head to form a v-shape, and tapering to points at the top.
The very tip of one horn is missing.
A piece of clay has been applied to the rump and pushed into the body to form a flattened tail that hangs down between the back legs.
The legs themselves extend from the underside of the torso as two solid blocks of clay, that separate just above the base to form four distinct points, representing the feet; these are slightly flattened on their undersides and allow the figure to stand upright.
The object is nearly complete, but has been mended from around 7 fragments with some minor restoration likely.
It has a weight of 258.2 grams, is 147 mm high, 114 mm long and 34 mm wide across the rump area.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
These figures were made by boys, and played with by children of both sexes. Evans-Pritchard says of the Nuer that: “The games of rather older children of both sexes centre round cattle. They build byres of sand in camps and of moistened ashes or mud in villages, and fill the toy kraals with fine mud cows and oxen ... with which they play at herding and marriage” (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 38). These types of figures are differentiated to show the sex of the animal, and often include details such as hide markings and decorative ornaments (see 1936.10.85-86). They are not confined to cattle, but include wild animals, such as giraffes (1936.10.91, 1936.10.71), lions (1937.34.73, 1937.34.78), buffalo (1937.34.77), and hedgehogs (1937.34.70), as well as people (1936.10.92-93, 1937.34.74-75).
For clay figures made by the Dinka, see S.L. Cummins 1904, "Sub-tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas", JRAI 34, pp 160-161, and for a photograph of Shilluk children playing with a large group of such figures, see H.A. Bernatzik, 1929, Zwischen Weissem Nil und Belgisch-Kongo, fig. 137.
Published in J. Coote, 1992, "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", in J. Coote & A. Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, fig. 10.7 (far right).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard during his last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer between October and November 1936, where he worked amongst the Nuer Leek in the area west of the Nile (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
These figures were made by boys, and played with by children of both sexes. Evans-Pritchard says of the Nuer that: “The games of rather older children of both sexes centre round cattle. They build byres of sand in camps and of moistened ashes or mud in villages, and fill the toy kraals with fine mud cows and oxen ... with which they play at herding and marriage” (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 38). These types of figures are differentiated to show the sex of the animal, and often include details such as hide markings and decorative ornaments (see 1936.10.85-86). They are not confined to cattle, but include wild animals, such as giraffes (1936.10.91, 1936.10.71), lions (1937.34.73, 1937.34.78), buffalo (1937.34.77), and hedgehogs (1937.34.70), as well as people (1936.10.92-93, 1937.34.74-75).
For clay figures made by the Dinka, see S.L. Cummins 1904, "Sub-tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas", JRAI 34, pp 160-161, and for a photograph of Shilluk children playing with a large group of such figures, see H.A. Bernatzik, 1929, Zwischen Weissem Nil und Belgisch-Kongo, fig. 137.
Published in J. Coote, 1992, "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", in J. Coote & A. Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, fig. 10.7 (far right).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
38, pencil in left column] 34 [ink]
E.E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD
, M.A., Exeter College.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, vis: [addition in different pen] (Coll.
in 1936)
[p.
41, pencil] 70-75 [ink] [1 of] 6 mud toys, models of animals & man & woman.
1937.34.72 - Bull (no given AP).
Card Catalogue Entry [tribes] - Information as in the accession book entry, with addition of photographic reference: A9-F4-36 [RTS 23/7/2004; this refers to a hedgehog figurine, not this item], and inserted comment: Bull Cow (broken and mended) [with a sketch on the back of the card; RTS 23/7/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Mud ox, NUER. A-E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard 1937. 1937.34.72 [rectangular paper label, originally stuck to its surface but now loose and stored in RDF. There is a corresponding rectangular patch on the side of the animal where this was presumably once attached; RTS 21/10/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry [tribes] - Information as in the accession book entry, with addition of photographic reference: A9-F4-36 [RTS 23/7/2004; this refers to a hedgehog figurine, not this item], and inserted comment: Bull Cow (broken and mended) [with a sketch on the back of the card; RTS 23/7/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Mud ox, NUER. A-E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans Pritchard 1937. 1937.34.72 [rectangular paper label, originally stuck to its surface but now loose and stored in RDF. There is a corresponding rectangular patch on the side of the animal where this was presumably once attached; RTS 21/10/2004].
Publication History:
J.
Coote, 1992, "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", J.
Coote & A.
Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, 1992, figure 10.7 (far right).
