Baka flute
Accession Number:
(1930.86.57)
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Maridi District
Cultural Group:
Baka
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal
Process:
Perforated , Notched
Dimensions:
L = 191 mm
Other Owners:
Purchased from Edward Evans-Pritchard for the PRM by Henry Balfour on 31 December 1930, as part of a group of objects, total cost £25
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Purchased 31 December 1930
Collected Date:
1926-1930
Description:
Small notched ivory flute with 3 finger-holes.
Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard in the period between 1926 and 1930, while conducting fieldwork in the Southern Sudan. It came from the district of Meridi, which is located in the modern administrative district of Western Equatoria. The Baka referred to by Evans-Pritchard are the Central Sudanic group, not the Baka Pygmies of Congo and elsewhere. They are linguistically related to the Bongo and Moru Kodo, and inhabit areas of the Meridi and Yei districts (L.F. Nalder ed., 1937, A Tribal Survey of Mongalla Province, p. 185-6)
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard in the period between 1926 and 1930, while conducting fieldwork in the Southern Sudan. It came from the district of Meridi, which is located in the modern administrative district of Western Equatoria. The Baka referred to by Evans-Pritchard are the Central Sudanic group, not the Baka Pygmies of Congo and elsewhere. They are linguistically related to the Bongo and Moru Kodo, and inhabit areas of the Meridi and Yei districts (L.F. Nalder ed., 1937, A Tribal Survey of Mongalla Province, p. 185-6)
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[BIV, p.
138] - 1930 [insert] 86 [end insert]
E.E.
EVANS PRITCHARD
31 Dec.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, etc.
[...] [p.
139a, insert] 57-58 [end insert] - [1 of] 2 Notched whistles (ivory & horn) with three stops.
BAKA tribe, MERIDI district.
[...] [Base of p.
139, total of items 1930.86.1-65] - P[ai]d by cheque 31 Dec £
25-0-0
.
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. 1930.86.61 appears on his list as one of "2 whistles (Baka)". This letter also mentions rejecting a number of items; these may relate to an undated list in the file of 48 objects, which do not seem to match accessioned material.
RDF 1930.86 also contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attritudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time [RTS 18/8/2005].
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. 1930.86.61 appears on his list as one of "2 whistles (Baka)". This letter also mentions rejecting a number of items; these may relate to an undated list in the file of 48 objects, which do not seem to match accessioned material.
RDF 1930.86 also contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attritudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time [RTS 18/8/2005].
