Dinka earrings
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.28 .1 .2
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Warab Fanamweir
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By May 1933
Materials:
Tin Metal
Process:
Hammered , Bent ?
Dimensions:
[.1] L = 25, W = 28.7, th = 1.8, diam pin = 1.3 mm; [.2] L = 25.7, W = 29.3, th = 2.1, pin diam = 1.4 mm [RTS 24/11/2004].
Weight:
[.1] 3.9 g, [.2] 3.7 g
Local Name:
yeom
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 3rd May 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:
3rd May 1933
Description:
A pair of almost identical earrings made from single pieces of sheet tin, hammered to shape.
Each has a body is in the form of a broad flat loop or crescent with rectangular section, tapering slightly to the ends which have been cut at a slight angle.
The top edge is left open, except for a narrow round-sectioned pin that runs horizontally across the opening, leaving a small gap between its tip and the other side of the earring.
The metal is slightly flexible, to allow the earring to be opened up and this pin to be fitted through a hole in the owner's ear.
The undersides are essentially flat, but irregular; on 1934.8.28.2 there is a slight convex curve to the surface, where the object has been pressed down onto another surface while shaping the upper face.
The upper surfaces have a narrow, flattened inside edge, then the rest of the body slopes down and thins towards the curved outside edge.
Both earrings are complete and intact; there is a slight surface flaw in the metal of 1934.8.28.1.
Tool marks are visible on the underside, in the form of linear scratches, and the upper surface, in the form of numerous small dents made by using some kind of hammer.
The metal has been polished, and shows no signs of corrosion; it is currently a metallic grey colour (Pantone 877C).
1934.8.28.1 has a weight of 3.9 grams, and is 25 mm long, 28.7 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick; the pin at the top has a diameter of 1.3 mm.
1934.8.28.2 weighs 3.7 grams and is 25.7 mm long, 29.3 mm wide and 2.1 mm thick; the pin at the top has a diameter of 1.4 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Fanamweir on 3rd May 1933, during a shooting expedition. These earrings are called yeom in Dinka.
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Fanamweir on 3rd May 1933, during a shooting expedition. These earrings are called yeom in Dinka.
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
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: - From the
DINKA
tribe, FANAMWEIR & KORNUK, WHITE NILE [...] [p.
250] [insert] 28 [end insert] -
Yeom
, pair of crescentic ear-pendants of tin, FANAMWEIR (2036).
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 249] - 1934.8.28 No given AP [red biro] A20 F12 1.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2036: "Pair tin ear-rings, crescent shaped, native name yeom , 3/5/33 Fanamweir, 8.55 N, 28.42 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].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 249] - 1934.8.28 No given AP [red biro] A20 F12 1.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2036: "Pair tin ear-rings, crescent shaped, native name yeom , 3/5/33 Fanamweir, 8.55 N, 28.42 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].
