Dinka fish hook
Accession Number:
1940.12.602
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1940
Materials:
Iron Metal , Grass Plant Fibre , ?Cotton Yarn Plant
Process:
Twisted , Bound , Forged (Metal) , Hammered
Dimensions:
L = 336 mm, diam cord = 3.5 mm, diam bound area = 3.8 mm, diam hook = 3.2 mm [RTS 21/7/2004]
Weight:
4.7 g
Other Owners:
Charles Gabriel Seligman
Field Collector:
? Charles Gabriel Seligman & ?Brenda Zara Seligman
PRM Source:
Charles Gabriel Seligman or Brenda Zara Seligman
Acquired:
Donated 1940
Collected Date:
By 1940
Description:
Fish hook consisting of a cord made from a single length of twisted grass, doubled over at the top with the two ends twisted together to form a shorter and thicker rope.
These two cords have been forced apart at the top to form a loop.
The other end of the rope has been fastened to the hook, with the joining section tightly bound with thin cotton string that covers the junction and obscures the exact method by which the two elements have been secured; this section is slightly curved.
The hook is made from a single iron rod, roughly round in section, hammered into shape and bent into a shape somewhat like a square, with one side left open where the rod tapers to a point.
The object is complete and intact.
The hook is a dark metallic gray, with slight traces of rust (Pantone Cool Gray 11C), the cord is yellowish brown (Pantone 7508C) and the string a lighter cream colour (Pantone 7506C).
It is 336 mm long in total and weighs 4.7 grams; the cord has a diameter of 3.5 mm and is 295 mm long from end loop to the beginning of the bound section; the bound area is 17 mm long and 3.8 mm in diameter, while the hook has a diameter of 3.2 mm.
Probably collected by Charles Gabriel Seligman in 1922 while conducting research in the Southern Sudan, and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum by himself or his wife Brenda Zara Seligman in 1940. There are no specific details recorded for its provenance or Dinka name. Apparently several of these hooks would be attached to the line at once.
For similar Dinka fish hooks, see also 1922.25.12 and 1940.12.601, which were probably collected by Seligman at the same time.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
Probably collected by Charles Gabriel Seligman in 1922 while conducting research in the Southern Sudan, and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum by himself or his wife Brenda Zara Seligman in 1940. There are no specific details recorded for its provenance or Dinka name. Apparently several of these hooks would be attached to the line at once.
For similar Dinka fish hooks, see also 1922.25.12 and 1940.12.601, which were probably collected by Seligman at the same time.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
468]
The late Professor C.G.
SELIGMAN, M.D., F.R.S.
Miscellaneous collection presented in part by himself, June, 1940, and in part, after his death, by Mrs B.Z.
Seligman, October, 1940.
[p.
500] 1940.12.601/2 - [1 of] 2 Iron fishing hooks suspended on plaited fibre strings.
DINKA, A[nglo].E[gyptian].
SUDAN.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 499, in red biro] - A20 F10.30.
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Fishing hook. DINKA, A.E. SUDAN. d.d. Dr. C.G. Seligman 1940.12.602 [circular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 21/7/2004].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 499, in red biro] - A20 F10.30.
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Fishing hook. DINKA, A.E. SUDAN. d.d. Dr. C.G. Seligman 1940.12.602 [circular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 21/7/2004].
