Shilluk arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1903.16.107
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [Upper Nile]
Cultural Group:
Shilluk
Date Made:
By 1903
Materials:
Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal , String
Process:
Carved , Polished , Twisted , Tied
Dimensions:
Max L = 97.8 mm Max W = 89.2 mm Max Ht = 24.8 mm [RTS 25/3/2004].
Weight:
97.6 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records do not give a specific provenance for this item, but Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok
Field Collector:
Donald Gunn
PRM Source:
Donald Gunn
Acquired:
Donated 1903
Collected Date:
By 1903
Description:
Ivory penannular armlet, irregularly oval in plan view, carved from a single piece of elephant ivory with broad, slightly convex inner surface, where the object would rest against the owner's arm, a narrow convex top and base that slope down and up to their respective outer edges.
The outer surface has a corrugated profile with three ribs, formed by two angular parallel grooves that have been carved around its circumference.
The surfaces are highly polished.
The object appears to have been cut through on one side to create an opening, with two holes bored in each end and then secured with a piece of twisted, single stranded string binding each pair of holes together.
A loose end of string extends from the fastening on either side.
While this could be simply a mend, the join is rather straight and may be a deliberate cut, introduced to make the armlet easier to fit onto the owner.
There are some minor cracks around the surface; one of these has a circular depression partially bored across it.
There are four other depressions of similar size bored into the edges of the existing break; are these starting holes used in an attempt to force a partial crack to break fully, so the object could be cleanly cut? The ivory is a light creamy yellow colour (Pantone 7402C).
The armlet measures 97.8 by 89.2 mm across its outer edges, and 75.2 by 66.5 across its inside edges; it has a thickness of 10.5 mm, a height of 24.8 mm, and weighs 97.6 grams.
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records give only the generic provenance of ‘Upper Nile’ for this item; Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok and Bor, Nuer material from around Lake No, Dinka material from the ‘White Nile’ and Arab material from Omdurman.
Domville Fife suggests that amongst the Shilluk ivory armlets were worn by men who had speared an elephant, a lion or a leopard (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 82).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records give only the generic provenance of ‘Upper Nile’ for this item; Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok and Bor, Nuer material from around Lake No, Dinka material from the ‘White Nile’ and Arab material from Omdurman.
Domville Fife suggests that amongst the Shilluk ivory armlets were worn by men who had speared an elephant, a lion or a leopard (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 82).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[III, p.
110] - 1903 [pencil insert] 16 [end insert]
DR
D.
GUNN
Esq., M.B.
40 Dover Street, London, W.
June.
[...] [p.
113] - The following from the Shilluk tribe, Upper Nile.
viz: [pencil insert] 106-107 [end insert] - [One of] 2 elephant ivory armlets.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Ivory armlet SHILLUK Upper NILE d.d. DR. D. GUNN 1903 [LM 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 12/10/2005]
Written on object - SHILLUK, UPPER NILE. Pres. by Dr D. Gunn, 1903 [RTS 25/3/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Ivory armlet SHILLUK Upper NILE d.d. DR. D. GUNN 1903 [LM 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 12/10/2005]
Written on object - SHILLUK, UPPER NILE. Pres. by Dr D. Gunn, 1903 [RTS 25/3/2004].
