Northern Larim arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.157
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Napongayit
Cultural Group:
Northern Larim
Date Made:
By 1979
Materials:
Plant Fibre , Glass
Process:
Beadwork , Strung , Stitched
Dimensions:
External Diam = 76 mm, W band = 24 mm, Th band = 2 mm; diam beads = 2 mm, th beads = 1.5 mm [RTS 21/6/2004].
Weight:
21.3 g
Local Name:
chivrotey
Other Owners:
Exchanged at Napongayit village by Patti Langton for a bar of scented soap during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan on the 24th March 1979, in exchange for a bar of scented soap (a similar bracelet was said to cost £2
Field Collector:
Patti Langton
PRM Source:
Patti Langton
Acquired:
Purchased 1979
Collected Date:
24 March 1979
Description:
Ornament for the upper arm, consisting of 10 horizontal rows of plant fibre thread, onto which have been strung numerous small ring or seed beads with convex sides and holes through their centres.
The pattern in each row appears to copy the one adjacent to it, producing a very regular design.
The rows are fixed together at 12 regular intervals with vertical stitching that holds the beads close together; one section of the bracelet has been left unstitched so that the rows can fan out for display.
The central element of this section is also the focus of the design, where the ends of each horizontal string have been knotted together, and two short lengths with five beads on each stand up at right angles to the body, like decorative tassels.
The beads on these tassels are, from the base upwards, opaque green (Pantone 367C), black (Pantone black 3C), red (Pantone 187C), then two sky blue beads (Pantone 2975C) - except on three tassels, where several of these beads have been lost, and an additional tassel whose base bead is yellow rather than green (Pantone 101C).
The primary colour of the rest of the armlet is white, broken by three vertical coloured patterned bands.
The band on the side of the armlet directly opposite the tassels is made up of a central column of white beads with thin dark blue stripes; these are flanked by 1 red, 1 black, 2 green, 1 black then 1 red bead on either side.
The remaining two bands, spaced evenly on either side of this motif, are identical, consisting of two central green beads, flanked by single black, red, striped blue and white and then red beads on either side.
One sample horizontal string of beads in this object had a total of 158 small beads, made up of 115 white, 14 red, 10 black, 4 blue, 10 green and 5 blue and white striped beads.
An estimate for the total number of beads that were probably used for this object is therefore 1580 beads.
The object is nearly complete; one white bead has broken in half and been mended, some of the beads have been lost from the tassels, and the stitching has come away in one area of the body.
It has a weight of 21.3 grams, and an external diameter of 76 mm, while the band is 24 mm wide and 2 mm thick.
Each bead is of similar size, with a diameter of 2 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm.
This item was bought by Patti Langton at Napongayit village, in the Kerenge Clan area, on the 24th March 1979, in exchange for a bar of scented soap, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan. A similar bracelet had been purchased for £2, but the soap had never been seen before and so was considered to be of equally high value.
It was worn by women, and is called chivrotey. The beads used in it are purchased in Kapoeta, some 50 miles away, and are said to be very expensive, costing £1 per 'string'. This is one of the few occasions when the Larim make use of actual money. The beads are threaded by women from the villages. Similar beads, in white, green, red and black glass also appear on 1979.20.153, a Northern Larim neck ornament that uses a style of decoration called nakoribey , while the red and white beads also appear in some Lango ornaments (see 1925.14.11 and 1934.8.95).
Rachael Sparks 8/9/2005.
This item was bought by Patti Langton at Napongayit village, in the Kerenge Clan area, on the 24th March 1979, in exchange for a bar of scented soap, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan. A similar bracelet had been purchased for £2, but the soap had never been seen before and so was considered to be of equally high value.
It was worn by women, and is called chivrotey. The beads used in it are purchased in Kapoeta, some 50 miles away, and are said to be very expensive, costing £1 per 'string'. This is one of the few occasions when the Larim make use of actual money. The beads are threaded by women from the villages. Similar beads, in white, green, red and black glass also appear on 1979.20.153, a Northern Larim neck ornament that uses a style of decoration called nakoribey , while the red and white beads also appear in some Lango ornaments (see 1925.14.11 and 1934.8.95).
Rachael Sparks 8/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
- [p.
185] 1979.20 (.1 - 206) P[urchase] MISS PATTI LANGTON, DEPT.
of ETHNOLOGY & PREHISTORY, OXFORD.
Collection made by Patti Langton during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan; Jan.
- April 1979.
The collection was made in three culture areas during the dry season.
The amount paid for each object is listed if the information is known.
In Jan.
1979 £1 is equivalent to 95 piastres (pt.) Sudanese.
This documentation is based largely upon Patti's own list of objects and her notes on these.
Sometimes objects included in the Pitt Rivers alootment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here.
See Related Documents file as well.
[p.
204] 1979.20.136 - 193 SOUTHERN SUDAN the LARIM The Larim live about 50 miles west of Kapoeta in the eastern corner of S.
Sudan.
They are a non-Nilotic pastoral people, living in permanent mountain villages.
They are part of the Didinga-Longarim-Murle language group.
They live in the Boya Hills - Boya is the Topasa (neighbouring group) name for the Larim, which is also used by the Administration.
Longarim is the Didinga's name for them but they call themselves the Larim, and that is used here.
[p.
205] The LARIM The collection was made in two parts.
The "PL" labelled material was collected during Pat Langton's stay in a village in the Northern Larim area.
The "∆" labelled material was collected by Jill Goudie, one of the archaeologists on the Expedition, from the base camp LARYOK, among the Southern Larim.
Money is known among the Larim but it is used only for buying beads for women from Kapoeta, or for the few members of the group who would go to Juba.
The women especially were more interested in exchange gifts of salt, cloth & soap.
The Larim material is documented in three parts: a) General Larim pieces - no information as to which section of the Larim it comes from b) the "PL" Collection from the Northern Larim, from three of the eight Northern Larim clans c) the Southern Larim material collected by Jill Goudie, numbered "∆".
[p.
208] 1979.20.155 - 162 NORTH LARIM/BOYA; KERENGE CLAN, NAPONGAYIT VILLAGE; 24.3.79 [p.
209] 1979.20.157 Women's beaded upper arm bracelet,
chivrotey
.
These are the expensive beads like those used in 1979.20.153.
Diam = ca.
8 cm., W = 2.3 cm.
Coll.
no.
PL 41.
A similar bracelet was bought for £2, but this one cost only a bar of scented soap - never seen before and therefore of high value.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F35-18.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 24/5/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry. This item appears in Langton's list under the heading 'Purchased in Kerenge clan, Napongayit village, where I was living', with the additional comment 'beads as for PL 29' - these are beads of a type bought from Kapoeta, 50 miles away, and threaded by women in the villages; they are very expensive and cost around £1 a string. This object appears on a packing list, under 'Box 2. Longarim. [one of] 3 bead ornaments' [RTS 12/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Napongayit Northern LARIM Beaded upper arm ornament Worn by women P. LANGTON Coll., PL 41 1979.20.157 [LM 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 12/10/2005]
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F35-18.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 24/5/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry. This item appears in Langton's list under the heading 'Purchased in Kerenge clan, Napongayit village, where I was living', with the additional comment 'beads as for PL 29' - these are beads of a type bought from Kapoeta, 50 miles away, and threaded by women in the villages; they are very expensive and cost around £1 a string. This object appears on a packing list, under 'Box 2. Longarim. [one of] 3 bead ornaments' [RTS 12/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Napongayit Northern LARIM Beaded upper arm ornament Worn by women P. LANGTON Coll., PL 41 1979.20.157 [LM 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 12/10/2005]
