Zande razor
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.124
Country:
Sudan
Region:
Western Equatoria Li Rangu
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Iron Metal
Process:
Hammered
Dimensions:
L = 142 mm, Max W blade = 18 mm, Max Th blade = 1 mm, W flattened area below blade = 5.2 mm, W handle = 1.8 mm [RTS 7/6/2004].
Weight:
6.8 g
Local Name:
mangwa mangeri
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 28th 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:
28th April 1933
Description:
Small iron cosmetic accessory, consisting of a narrow handle, pointed at one end, where the section is almost round, with the section becoming square further down the length.
The other end has been hammered flat to form a thin, narrow leaf-shaped section; above this is a short triangular blade with angular sloping shoulders and sides tapering in to a point at the other end.
The tip has been slightly bent.
Both flattened section and blade have a slight ridge running along the length on both sides.
The blade is double edged, and bevelled on both sides down to the cutting edge.
The object had a combined function, with the blade being used as a razor, and the pointed narrow handle end as a hair pin.
It is complete and intact, and currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone 420C).
The object is 142 mm long and weighs 6.8 grams, with the blade measuring 18 mm at its widest point, at the base, and 1 mm at the centre; the narrow flattened area just below the blade is 18 mm wide and 0.8 mm thick, and the handle is 1.8 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Li Rangu on 28th April 1933 during a shooting expedition. At that time, Li Rangu had become a centre of foreign contact for the district (N. Barley, 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 144).
Powell-Cotton describes this object as a 'combined' razor and hair pin, with the Zande names Mangwa and Mangeri. It is not clear from museum records if these represent a singular and plural form, a phrase, or two separate words describing the separate functions of the item.
Larken describes the use of 'a hairpin of iron or brass shaped like a tiny spear' was worn in the hair by women; he may have been referring to this type of object (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 32).
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Li Rangu on 28th April 1933 during a shooting expedition. At that time, Li Rangu had become a centre of foreign contact for the district (N. Barley, 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 144).
Powell-Cotton describes this object as a 'combined' razor and hair pin, with the Zande names Mangwa and Mangeri. It is not clear from museum records if these represent a singular and plural form, a phrase, or two separate words describing the separate functions of the item.
Larken describes the use of 'a hairpin of iron or brass shaped like a tiny spear' was worn in the hair by women; he may have been referring to this type of object (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 32).
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
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] 124 [end insert] -
Mangeri
, combined razor & hair-pin.
LIRANGO (945).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 945: “Razer [sic] & hair pin, 5 5/8" long, iron, native name Mangwa, Mangeri, 28/4/33 Lirango, 4.40 N 28.20 E”. [Note that Mangwa and Mangeri are typed as separate words, one above the other, rather than as a single phrase; it is possible they refer to the two functions of the object]. 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].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - mangeri , razor & hair-pin. ZANDE, LIRANGO. 4° 40' N, 28° 20' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (945) [small tag, tied to object, RTS 7/6/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 945: “Razer [sic] & hair pin, 5 5/8" long, iron, native name Mangwa, Mangeri, 28/4/33 Lirango, 4.40 N 28.20 E”. [Note that Mangwa and Mangeri are typed as separate words, one above the other, rather than as a single phrase; it is possible they refer to the two functions of the object]. 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].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - mangeri , razor & hair-pin. ZANDE, LIRANGO. 4° 40' N, 28° 20' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (945) [small tag, tied to object, RTS 7/6/2004].
