Zande bow
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.107
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria near Tambura
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Wood Plant , Sinew
Process:
Carved , Twisted , Tied , Knotted , Strung , Repaired (local) ?
Dimensions:
L = 853, shaft W = 20, th = 13; pegged end diam = 6 and 7.5; string diam = 2.5 mm [RTS 27/9/2005].
Weight:
138 g
Local Name:
botto
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 29th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
29th April 1933
Description:
Bow made from a length of polished yellowish brown wood (Pantone 7511C), with an almost flat back and convex inner face, tapering to either end, where the section becomes more rounded.
The shaft has been shaved at one end, so that the wood forms a slight 'stop' to help keep the bow string seated, and the tip has been cut further back to form a recessed peg; there is a similar peg at the other end.
The bow has been strung so that the shaft forms a simple, shallow arc.
The bow string has been made from a length of twisted sinew, wound several times around the 'stopped' lower end, and tied in place around the peg at the upper end.
This is no longer taut, and has been repaired along its length with 3 knots.
The bow is complete.
The string is discoloured, but traces of the original pale yellow may be seen (Pantone 7509C).
The bow has a weight of 138 grams and is 853 mm long; the shaft is 20 mm wide and 13 mm thick at the centre; the pegged ends measure 6 and 7.5 mm in diameter and the string has a diameter of 2.5 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah on the road to Tambura on 29th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
Powell-Cotton gives the Zande name for this object as botto; this is very similar to the term he gives to 1934.8.118, a Zande bow with signalling device. Nearly a decade earlier, Larken recorded the local term for bow as mboto, presumably the same or a related term, and stated that bows and arrows were not in general use amongst the Zande, while those he did see were all "short and not very stiff, none exceeding three feet in length" (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p 41).
Powell-Cotton also collected a group of 10 poisoned Zande arrows at the same time, known as pima; see 1934.8.108-117.
Rachael Sparks 28/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah on the road to Tambura on 29th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
Powell-Cotton gives the Zande name for this object as botto; this is very similar to the term he gives to 1934.8.118, a Zande bow with signalling device. Nearly a decade earlier, Larken recorded the local term for bow as mboto, presumably the same or a related term, and stated that bows and arrows were not in general use amongst the Zande, while those he did see were all "short and not very stiff, none exceeding three feet in length" (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p 41).
Powell-Cotton also collected a group of 10 poisoned Zande arrows at the same time, known as pima; see 1934.8.108-117.
Rachael Sparks 28/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: [...] [p.
260] - From the
ZANDE
tribe, LIRANGO, YAMBIO, DINGBA & TAMBURA [...] [insert] 107 [end insert] - Small bow,
pima
botto
, plain wood, flat section.
TAMBURA (1012).
Card Catalogue Entry - The tribes and object cards repeat the accession book entry, but adds 'with 10 arrows bearing the same number, see separate card' [NB: these are 1934.8.108-117; RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, on the road to Tambura. ZANDE tribe. Bow, botto (no. 1012). d.d. P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, 1934.8.107 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 27/9/2005].Pitt Rivers Museum label -
Written on object - Bow, botto , ZANDE, nr TAMBURA, E. SUDAN. 5° 35' N., 27° 30' E. d.d.. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (1012) [RTS 27/9/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 1012: “Bow, flat back, fibre string, 2'11", native name Botto, 10 arrows, 1'7", double barbed, all poisoned, native name Pima , 29/4/33 Road to Tambura, 5.35 N 27.30 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - The tribes and object cards repeat the accession book entry, but adds 'with 10 arrows bearing the same number, see separate card' [NB: these are 1934.8.108-117; RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, on the road to Tambura. ZANDE tribe. Bow, botto (no. 1012). d.d. P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, 1934.8.107 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 27/9/2005].Pitt Rivers Museum label -
Written on object - Bow, botto , ZANDE, nr TAMBURA, E. SUDAN. 5° 35' N., 27° 30' E. d.d.. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (1012) [RTS 27/9/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 1012: “Bow, flat back, fibre string, 2'11", native name Botto, 10 arrows, 1'7", double barbed, all poisoned, native name Pima , 29/4/33 Road to Tambura, 5.35 N 27.30 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
