Dinka staff
Accession Number:
[1884.13.1]
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [White Nile]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
?Before 1865
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved
Other Owners:
Collected in Sudan by John Petherick, sometime between 1853 and 1859, or 1861 to 1865. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers by 1868, perhaps via auction as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, Lon
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
1853 - 1859 or 1861 - 1865
Description:
Wooden staff with point covered with tail-skin
with two side flaps.
Collected by John Petherick in the Southern Sudan. Petherick was based in Khartoum between 1853 and March 1859, during which period he mounted five trading expeditions into Southern Sudan, travelling down the Bahr el Abiad, Sobat, Bahr el Ghazal, Jur and Bahr el Jebel rivers. He encountered at least two main groups of Dinka during this period; one group in the area east of the Bahr el Abiad and north of the Sobat river – where Petherick established a trading station – and another group, whom he calls the ‘Raik’, around the Bahr el Ghazal/Jur rivers. Material could have been collected from either source, and shipped to England with his other collections in 1859. If so, it was probably included in the auction of his collection conducted by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This included a 'staff (Dinka)' as part of lot 115, which could be this item. Alternatively, it could have been obtained later, when Petherick returned to the Southern Sudan in 1861, and mounted another expedition down the Bahr el Jebel, then overland to Gondokoro. Although he does not mention Dinka by that name, it is possible that the Kytch, whom he had dealings with, were from this group (Cic Dinka?). If further material was obtained during this period, it would have been shipped back to England in 1865 and sold at a subsequent auction.
It is not clear if this is a fighting stick, or a status object.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Collected by John Petherick in the Southern Sudan. Petherick was based in Khartoum between 1853 and March 1859, during which period he mounted five trading expeditions into Southern Sudan, travelling down the Bahr el Abiad, Sobat, Bahr el Ghazal, Jur and Bahr el Jebel rivers. He encountered at least two main groups of Dinka during this period; one group in the area east of the Bahr el Abiad and north of the Sobat river – where Petherick established a trading station – and another group, whom he calls the ‘Raik’, around the Bahr el Ghazal/Jur rivers. Material could have been collected from either source, and shipped to England with his other collections in 1859. If so, it was probably included in the auction of his collection conducted by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This included a 'staff (Dinka)' as part of lot 115, which could be this item. Alternatively, it could have been obtained later, when Petherick returned to the Southern Sudan in 1861, and mounted another expedition down the Bahr el Jebel, then overland to Gondokoro. Although he does not mention Dinka by that name, it is possible that the Kytch, whom he had dealings with, were from this group (Cic Dinka?). If further material was obtained during this period, it would have been shipped back to England in 1865 and sold at a subsequent auction.
It is not clear if this is a fighting stick, or a status object.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book IV entry
[p.
26] [insert] 1884.13 [end insert]
STAVES
[insert] 1 [end insert] - 569 -
Wooden staff with point covered with tail-skin with side flaps.
DINKA, WHITE NILE.
Consul Petherick (630 black).
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [page opposite 26] - [Drawing, either going with 1884.13.1 or .2, annotated 'suggest's elephant's head'].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert] Staves, i. Wooden staff with 2 hide flaps, Dinka, White Nile (P.R. coll. 569).
Black book entry [p. 24] - Sticks & Staves. 630. Staff. Dinka Tribe. C. Africa. Obtd by Mr Petherick (569). [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 72] - Staves, African, Polynesian & Indian [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert] Wood staff. 569. 630. Screen 18, 78.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 86] - SCREEN 18. STAVES. 569. STAFF of Dinka tribe, White Nile. Obtained by Mr Petherick.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 6/4/2004].
Additional Accession Book IV Entry [page opposite 26] - [Drawing, either going with 1884.13.1 or .2, annotated 'suggest's elephant's head'].
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert] Staves, i. Wooden staff with 2 hide flaps, Dinka, White Nile (P.R. coll. 569).
Black book entry [p. 24] - Sticks & Staves. 630. Staff. Dinka Tribe. C. Africa. Obtd by Mr Petherick (569). [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert].
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 72] - Staves, African, Polynesian & Indian [insert] 1884.13.1 [end insert] Wood staff. 569. 630. Screen 18, 78.
Pitt Rivers Catalogue Entry (1874) [p. 86] - SCREEN 18. STAVES. 569. STAFF of Dinka tribe, White Nile. Obtained by Mr Petherick.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 6/4/2004].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A).
[AP]
