Zande 'rain-magic'
110 x 158 mm | Print gelatin silver
Date of Print:
1937 circa
Same Image As:
1998.341.5
Accession Number:
2005.111.6
Description:
A magical invocation consisting of a stone suspended from a stick using a tied piece of grass, to prevent rain during the building of a hut.
Photographer:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Date of Photo:
1926 - 1930
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Group:
Zande
Publication History:
Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate XXXIb (facing page 453) in
Witchcraft Oracles and magic among the Azande
(OUP 1937) with the caption "A stone hangs in the air to prevent rain from falling during hut-building" [CM 7/9/2005]
PRM Source:
Oxford University Press
Acquired:
Donated 2003
Other Owners:
Oxford University Press
Class:
Religion , Ritual , [Shelter]
Keyword:
Religious Offering , [Building]
Activity:
Ritual Activity
Documentation:
Correspondence with OUP in Related Documents File
Primary Documentation:
Printer's ms pencil notes and crop marks on print reverse.
[CM 7/9/2005]
Other Information:
This print is one of twenty-eight prints handed over, along with five negs and prints retained from publication in The Azande (1971), by Anne Ashby from OUP in December 2003.
They all seem to have been made from Evans-Pritchard's negatives for publication in Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande sometime prior to 1937, and have numerous printer's comments and crop marks on the backs.
They have been accessioned separately since they were evidently printed by OUP before Evans-Pritchard's collection was donated in 1966, and since they make more sense catalogued together as a distinct collection.
[CM 7/9/2005]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 7/9/2005 [Southern Sudan Project]
