Nuer necklet

Nuer necklet
Other views of this artifact:


Accession Number:
1903.16.125
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Wahda Lake No
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1903
Materials:
Wood Plant , String , ?Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Carved , Perforated , Twisted , Tied
Dimensions:
Max L [bar] = 127.6 mm Max W [bar] = 9.5 mm Max Th [bar] = 9 mm Max L [total with cord] = 382 mm Max Diam [cord] = 1.3 mm
Weight:
10.4 g
Field Collector:
Donald Gunn
PRM Source:
Donald Gunn
Acquired:
Donated 1903
Collected Date:
By 1903
Description:
Necklet made from a single length of twisted light brown cord (Pantone 466C), the surface of which is largely obscured by a darker brown greasy coating. This has been strung with a pendant made from a length of wooden twig with its surface bark left in place (light yellowish brown, Pantone 7509C). This has been only minimally shaped by cutting it flat at either end and converting it into a pendant by adding a perforation close to both ends. The cord has been passed once through each hole, to leave the pendant hanging as a horizontal bar across the chest, before tying the two loose ends in a simple knot at the top. The object is complete and intact, weighing 10.4 grams. It is 382 mm long in total, with the pendant having a length of 127.6 mm, a width of 9.5 mm and a thickness of 9 mm; the cord itself is 1.3 mm in diameter.

Collected by Donald Gunn from Lake No in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok and Bor, Nuer material from around Lake No, Dinka material from the ‘White Nile’ and Arab material from Omdurman.

This object may have had some amuletic significance. For a similar object, strung with two wooden bars, see 1903.16.124.

Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.

Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry [III, p. 110] - 1903 [pencil insert] 16 [end insert] DR D. GUNN Esq., M.B. 40 Dover Street, London, W. June. [...] [p. 114, pencil insert] 125 [end insert] - ditto [Nuer necklet] with one bar, LAKE NO, UPPER NILE.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].

Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Nuer necklet. LAKE NO, UPPER NILE. Pres. by Dr D. Gunn, 1903 [rectangular metal edged tag, tied to object; RTS 5/5/2004].



 
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