Dinka arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1917.25.81
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan?] [White Nile]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1917
Materials:
Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal
Process:
Carved
Dimensions:
L = 108 mm, W = 89 mm, Ht = 47 mm [RTS 6/4/2004].
Weight:
312.6 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 in the shape of an oval ring with broad, flat outer and inner faces and flat side edges.
The object has broken into two joining fragments; these cannot be mended as one fragment has expanded and the joins no longer meet precisely.
The inside face is rough and unfinished, while the outside surfaces do not appear to have been polished, suggesting that the object may have broken and abandoned during the manufacturing process.
It is complete, with some damage to the outer surfaces which are beginning to laminate; these are currently a creamy yellow colour (Pantone 7402C).
The armlet measures 108 by 89 mm across the outside edges, and 85 by 66 mm across the inside edges; these measurements are somewhat distorted from the original shape.
It is 47 mm high, with a ring thickness of 12 mm, and a total weight of 312.6 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).
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).
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.
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 R.G. Gayer Anderson, 1917. 1917.25.81 [in black ink, on the smaller of the two fragments; RTS 6/4/2004].
Written on object box - d.d. Maj. Gayer Anderson [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
Pitt Rivers Museum label [white modern paper label] - AFRICA, SUDAN, White Nile DINKA Ivory arm ornament Coll. by R.G. Gayer-Anderson, donated 1917 [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
Pitt Rivers Museum label [stuck to box lining] - DINKA Armlet d.d. Gayer-Anderson [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
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.
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 R.G. Gayer Anderson, 1917. 1917.25.81 [in black ink, on the smaller of the two fragments; RTS 6/4/2004].
Written on object box - d.d. Maj. Gayer Anderson [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
Pitt Rivers Museum label [white modern paper label] - AFRICA, SUDAN, White Nile DINKA Ivory arm ornament Coll. by R.G. Gayer-Anderson, donated 1917 [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
Pitt Rivers Museum label [stuck to box lining] - DINKA Armlet d.d. Gayer-Anderson [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/10/2005]
