Dinka arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1917.25.79
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan?] [White Nile]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1917
Materials:
Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal
Process:
Carved , Polished
Dimensions:
L across outside edge = 68.4 mm, W across outside edge = 54 mm, inside 60 by 48 mm; Ht = 24.5 mm, Th band = 5 mm [RTS 1/6/2004].
Weight:
26.4 g
Other Owners:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably collected in the period immediately before World War I (1909-1914) [RTS 1/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
PRM Source:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
Acquired:
Donated 1917
Collected Date:
By 1917
Description:
Annular arm ornament carved from a single piece of ivory, irregularly oval in plan view.
The inside face is largely flat, with sharp edges at top and bottom, and a slightly convex outer face that varies in width from 21 to 24.5 mm.
The outer surface has been polished.
The armlet is complete and intact, although the inside face has a series of blackened patches that look like scorch marks, and the outer face is appears to be slightly leached, with the colour ranging from deep yellow to patches of pale cream where the surface has been damaged.
It measures 68.4 by 54 mm across its outside edges, 60 by 48 mm across its inside edges, with a maximum height of 24.5 mm and a thickness of the band of around 5 mm, and a weight of 26.4 grams.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region.
This object is said to be made from elephant ivory. Domville Fife suggested that ivory bangles were worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet, but gives it the name afjok . This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok , meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round) (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 106).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region.
This object is said to be made from elephant ivory. Domville Fife suggested that ivory bangles were worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet, but gives it the name afjok . This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok , meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round) (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 106).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[VI, p.
54] - 1917 [pencil insert] 25 [end insert]
MAJOR R.G.
GAYER-ANDERSON
, R.A.M.C.
The Lodge, Old Marston, Oxon [pencil insert, p.
56] 77-82 [end insert] - [1 of] 6 Dinka armlets of elephant ivory, White Nile.
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.77-80 Nos given AP [red biro] A20 F10 21.
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, as a group for the six armlets, but is annotated with three negative numbers: A20.F10.15, A20.F10.21 and A20.F10.23. It is not clear which number belongs with which object [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Written on object - DINKA armlet, WHITE NILE, d.d. Major Gayer-Anderson 1917.25.79 [RTS 1/6/2004].
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.77-80 Nos given AP [red biro] A20 F10 21.
Card Catalogue Entry - The catalogue card repeats the accession book entry, as a group for the six armlets, but is annotated with three negative numbers: A20.F10.15, A20.F10.21 and A20.F10.23. It is not clear which number belongs with which object [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Written on object - DINKA armlet, WHITE NILE, d.d. Major Gayer-Anderson 1917.25.79 [RTS 1/6/2004].
