Shilluk tobacco pipe
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1903.2.1 .1 .2 .3
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [White Nile]
Cultural Group:
Shilluk
Date Made:
By March 1902
Materials:
Gourd Plant , Animal Hide Skin , Animal Tail , Bamboo Plant , Plant Fibre , Grass Fibre Plant , Pottery
Process:
Handbuilt , Fire-Hardened , Stitched , Socketed , Twisted , Tied Decorated Incised Impressed
Dimensions:
[.1] L = 161, rim diam = 37, stem diam = 23.5, base diam = 32.5 mm; [.2] L = 415, diam = 25.5, L sheath = 48.4, diam cord = 1.5 mm; [.3] L = 107.7, neck diam = 11, body diam = 66 mm [RTS 23/11/2004].
Weight:
[.1] 267.3, [.2] 47.3, [.3] 43.6 g
Other Owners:
Collected by William Leonard Stevenson Loat in March 1902, donated to PRM in February 1903 [RTS 5/10/2004].
Field Collector:
?William Leonard Stevenson Loat
PRM Source:
William Leonard Stevenson Loat
Acquired:
Donated February 1903
Collected Date:
March 1902
Description:
Composite tobacco pipe consisting of a gourd and hide mouthpiece [.3], bamboo shaft with a carrying loop attached [.2] and a pottery bowl [.1]; all three pieces are currently detachable.
The mouthpiece is made from two parts fitted closely together.
The inner part consists of a reddish orange gourd (Pantone 470C) with a tall narrow neck opening out to a globular body with the convex shoulder visible.
This has been fitted into an outer casing made of hardened animal hide, cut from a single cylindrical tail length; this is yellow (Pantone 7506C), discoloured brown over most of its surface.
This has been stretched to cover the lower part of the gourd - which has a pierced base to allow the smoke to pass through it - then shrunken to fit tightly around the top of the stem, with two lengths of stitching on opposite sides of the latter to enable a closer fit.
One side has been sewn up with brown hide cord, the other with a flatter yellow material that may be plant bast.
The interior of the mouthpiece is filled with a wad of plant fibre, visible through its lower opening; this is used to soak up the tobacco juice and may be chewed afterwards.
It still carries a strong scent of tobacco.
The mouthpiece has a weight of 43.6 grams, is 107.7 mm long, has a neck diameter of 11 mm and a body diameter of 66 mm.
The base of the mouthpiece is in the form of a short cylindrical neck or socket that fits over the top of the bamboo pipe shaft.
The body of the pipe is made from a short length of yellow bamboo, with 4 segments visible; this appears to have been hollowed out, and has a fibrous and rough interior that is thicker at one end than at the other; the shaft is 415 mm long, has a maximum diameter of 25.5 mm, and weighs 47.3 grams. There are also faint shallow cuts running around the circumference in 4 places. The surface is a deep yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7511C), with a lighter band around the top end where the mouthpiece is seated. Around the lower end, the shaft has been fitted with a short sheath of dark brown material (Pantone 7532C), probably animal hide, as although desiccated and the surface has cracked into a series of reptilian looking plates, the base of some hair follicles are visible in places. This sheath has been made from a rectangular strip, 48.4 mm in length, wrapped around the shaft and the joining ends sewn together using the same yellow bast stitching as seen on the mouthpiece. One side of this sheath has been burnt. A small loop made of twisted plant fibre has been sewn onto the base of this sheath, with another short length looped over either end, and then tied to a longer fibre cord, slightly lighter in colour (Pantone 7508C), which extends up the side of the shaft to act as a carrying loop. This has been knotted near the top, then wound 3 times around the upper body before being tied in place. This cord has a diameter of 1.5 mm.
The base of the pipe consists of a separate ceramic pipe bowl, the stem of which fits into the skin sheath, to rest up against the base of the bamboo pipe shaft. This bowl has been hand made from a moderately well levigated clay with the occasional large stone or smaller white inclusion, slipped and burnished, and fired a mottled buff (Pantone 727C), orange (Pantone 7515C) and grayish brown colour across the surface (Pantone 405C) with a few patches of black sooting. It has a circular mouth with uneven, narrow, flattened rim and a broad flat collar on the outside face, with a deep body that swells out towards the lower part of the bowl, set with a slightly splaying solid foot with a ring base at the bottom; this serves as a pipe rest. The cylindrical pipe stem runs up from the side of the lower bowl at an acute angle to it, ending with a circular, flat topped opening at the top. A series of vertical grooves line the inside walls of the bowl, where it can be seen that bowl and stem were made as two separate parts, fitted together while wet. This interior is also blackened, through use.
The exterior of the pipe bowl has been closely decorated, consisting of a row of crosses with an incised line below running around the rim collar. Similar incised lines are used to divide the body into sections. 2 such lines mark the base of the bowl 'neck'; a single line marks the top of the foot, and a curving line marks the area where the pipe bowl and ceramic stem join one another. The neck is left plain, but the rest of the surface below has been covered with a series of impressed marks running in tightly spaced lines - these could have been made using a simple pointed tool, or perhaps a comb-like tool with multiple points, and give the surface a roughened appearance. The foot is also covered with incised crosshatching, that runs over these impressed marks. At the top of the stem, this decoration has partially worn away through contact with the sheathed end of the pipe shaft. This upper part is also a lighter colour where it was covered by the leather sheath. The pipe bowl weighs 267.3 grams, is 161 mm long, and has a rim diameter of 37 mm, a stem end diameter of 23.5 mm, and a base diameter of 32.5 mm. When the 3 parts are combined, the pipe has a total weight of 358.1 grams, and a total length of 645 mm.
Obtained by William Leonard Stevenson Loat in March 1902. Loat probably was the collector as well as donor of this object, as he is known to have worked in the regions of Gondokoro, Lake No and elsewhere around the 'White Nile' collecting natural history specimens (see Boulenger, G.A., 1901, “Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Mr. W. L. S. Loat in the Nile”, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (Ser. 7) 444-446; Dixey, F., 1903, “On Lepidoptera from the White Nile, collected by Loat”). It was donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in February 1903.
S ee 1917.28.2 for a Shilluk mouthpiece with the plant fibre wad exposed. This pipe is very similar in style to 1902.17.1, a Shilluk pipe collected by Gunn - with similarities including the shape and decoration of the pipe bowl; the tool marks on the bowl's interior walls; the materials used, and the style of yellow fibre stitching Shilluk commoners call the tobacco pipe dak , while its royal name is labo, meaning earth or mud. Tobacco is called athabo, or omaro by royalty, signifying its colour. The Shilluk use 2 types of dak – the dangduong and the dangthen. The former is kept within the family enclosure; the latter is more commonly used in public. The two types are not structurally different. They are made up of a pipe bowl (the base is known as tyel dak) , attached to a hollow stem ( obec dak – usually made from a plant known as obec ) with a skin sheath ( apyeth dak ), and at the top, the mouthpiece is made of skin, usually cow's tail ( apyeth agwayo ), fitted around a gourd plant ( agwayo ). A filtering material ( anywön ) is put into the latter through a hole in its base; this is made from a plant known as thitho, treated in a special way that makes the fibres very soft. This is changed when it becomes thick and bitter with nicotine. A wire instrument called a godi is used to remove bad anywön . When a new filter has been put into a pipe, it is often smoked by a number of people in an event known as Käki 'dak , where the beauty of a pipe can be shown off. The pipe in question is often decorated with beads and cuttings from the tails of newly born sheep for the occasion (Kunijwok Gwado Ayoker of Wolfson College, Oxford, circa 1980's, from an unpublished paper titled "Reflections on Cultural Artifacts and History: the Case of a Shilluk Pipe", pp 2-5, 11-13, figs 1, 3).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
The body of the pipe is made from a short length of yellow bamboo, with 4 segments visible; this appears to have been hollowed out, and has a fibrous and rough interior that is thicker at one end than at the other; the shaft is 415 mm long, has a maximum diameter of 25.5 mm, and weighs 47.3 grams. There are also faint shallow cuts running around the circumference in 4 places. The surface is a deep yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7511C), with a lighter band around the top end where the mouthpiece is seated. Around the lower end, the shaft has been fitted with a short sheath of dark brown material (Pantone 7532C), probably animal hide, as although desiccated and the surface has cracked into a series of reptilian looking plates, the base of some hair follicles are visible in places. This sheath has been made from a rectangular strip, 48.4 mm in length, wrapped around the shaft and the joining ends sewn together using the same yellow bast stitching as seen on the mouthpiece. One side of this sheath has been burnt. A small loop made of twisted plant fibre has been sewn onto the base of this sheath, with another short length looped over either end, and then tied to a longer fibre cord, slightly lighter in colour (Pantone 7508C), which extends up the side of the shaft to act as a carrying loop. This has been knotted near the top, then wound 3 times around the upper body before being tied in place. This cord has a diameter of 1.5 mm.
The base of the pipe consists of a separate ceramic pipe bowl, the stem of which fits into the skin sheath, to rest up against the base of the bamboo pipe shaft. This bowl has been hand made from a moderately well levigated clay with the occasional large stone or smaller white inclusion, slipped and burnished, and fired a mottled buff (Pantone 727C), orange (Pantone 7515C) and grayish brown colour across the surface (Pantone 405C) with a few patches of black sooting. It has a circular mouth with uneven, narrow, flattened rim and a broad flat collar on the outside face, with a deep body that swells out towards the lower part of the bowl, set with a slightly splaying solid foot with a ring base at the bottom; this serves as a pipe rest. The cylindrical pipe stem runs up from the side of the lower bowl at an acute angle to it, ending with a circular, flat topped opening at the top. A series of vertical grooves line the inside walls of the bowl, where it can be seen that bowl and stem were made as two separate parts, fitted together while wet. This interior is also blackened, through use.
The exterior of the pipe bowl has been closely decorated, consisting of a row of crosses with an incised line below running around the rim collar. Similar incised lines are used to divide the body into sections. 2 such lines mark the base of the bowl 'neck'; a single line marks the top of the foot, and a curving line marks the area where the pipe bowl and ceramic stem join one another. The neck is left plain, but the rest of the surface below has been covered with a series of impressed marks running in tightly spaced lines - these could have been made using a simple pointed tool, or perhaps a comb-like tool with multiple points, and give the surface a roughened appearance. The foot is also covered with incised crosshatching, that runs over these impressed marks. At the top of the stem, this decoration has partially worn away through contact with the sheathed end of the pipe shaft. This upper part is also a lighter colour where it was covered by the leather sheath. The pipe bowl weighs 267.3 grams, is 161 mm long, and has a rim diameter of 37 mm, a stem end diameter of 23.5 mm, and a base diameter of 32.5 mm. When the 3 parts are combined, the pipe has a total weight of 358.1 grams, and a total length of 645 mm.
Obtained by William Leonard Stevenson Loat in March 1902. Loat probably was the collector as well as donor of this object, as he is known to have worked in the regions of Gondokoro, Lake No and elsewhere around the 'White Nile' collecting natural history specimens (see Boulenger, G.A., 1901, “Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Mr. W. L. S. Loat in the Nile”, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (Ser. 7) 444-446; Dixey, F., 1903, “On Lepidoptera from the White Nile, collected by Loat”). It was donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in February 1903.
S ee 1917.28.2 for a Shilluk mouthpiece with the plant fibre wad exposed. This pipe is very similar in style to 1902.17.1, a Shilluk pipe collected by Gunn - with similarities including the shape and decoration of the pipe bowl; the tool marks on the bowl's interior walls; the materials used, and the style of yellow fibre stitching Shilluk commoners call the tobacco pipe dak , while its royal name is labo, meaning earth or mud. Tobacco is called athabo, or omaro by royalty, signifying its colour. The Shilluk use 2 types of dak – the dangduong and the dangthen. The former is kept within the family enclosure; the latter is more commonly used in public. The two types are not structurally different. They are made up of a pipe bowl (the base is known as tyel dak) , attached to a hollow stem ( obec dak – usually made from a plant known as obec ) with a skin sheath ( apyeth dak ), and at the top, the mouthpiece is made of skin, usually cow's tail ( apyeth agwayo ), fitted around a gourd plant ( agwayo ). A filtering material ( anywön ) is put into the latter through a hole in its base; this is made from a plant known as thitho, treated in a special way that makes the fibres very soft. This is changed when it becomes thick and bitter with nicotine. A wire instrument called a godi is used to remove bad anywön . When a new filter has been put into a pipe, it is often smoked by a number of people in an event known as Käki 'dak , where the beauty of a pipe can be shown off. The pipe in question is often decorated with beads and cuttings from the tails of newly born sheep for the occasion (Kunijwok Gwado Ayoker of Wolfson College, Oxford, circa 1980's, from an unpublished paper titled "Reflections on Cultural Artifacts and History: the Case of a Shilluk Pipe", pp 2-5, 11-13, figs 1, 3).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[III, p.
103] - 1903 [pencil insert] 2 [end insert]
W.L.S.
LOAT
Esq.
Cumnor,
Berks
.
Feb.
[pencil insert] 1 [end insert] - Large tobacco pipe, Shilluk, White Nile.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Written on object - SHILLUK, WHITE NILE. March, 1902. Pres. by W.L.S. Loat esq., 1903 [written on pipe shaft; RTS 5/10/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Written on object - SHILLUK, WHITE NILE. March, 1902. Pres. by W.L.S. Loat esq., 1903 [written on pipe shaft; RTS 5/10/2004].
