Water pipe

1903.16.131 .1 .2

Sudan

[White Nile]

By 1903

Gourd Plant , Pottery , Wood Plant , Textile , Resin Plant?

Perforated , Handbuilt , Decorated , Incised , Impressed , Drawn WoundWoven

Gourd L = 268, max W = 94, Diam base neck = 28.7, diam top neck = 14, w top opening = 3, diam shoulder opening = 27.7 mm. [.2] L = 127, rim bowl = 22, mouth = 18, W body = 27.7; tube W = 19.5, tube th = 18.7, tube aperture = 10 mm [RTS 21/10/2004].

56.8 g

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

Donald Gunn

Donald Gunn

Donated 1903

By 1903

Water pipe, consisting of a gourd with long narrow neck, tapering out towards its base where it joins an ovoid body with convex base. This is hollow. The top of the neck has been perforated with a narrow hole; a larger circular opening has been cut into the shoulder of the body. The surface is an orangey brown colour (Pantone 7517C). A hollow pottery pipe bowl has been slotted into the shoulder hole; this has been hand made from well levigated clay and fired a reddish brown colour (Pantone 4705C). It is circular, with a pinched rim and convex sides below. The exterior is decorated with two incised lines, then a band of impressed vertical lines, probably applied with a roulette, that spirals around the circumference, with another line winding around in a spiral below. The interior of the bowl shows sooting, indicating that it has been used. This bowl has been fitted into a hollow wooden cylinder, made from a piece of soft, lightweight yellow wood (Pantone 7402C), and with a groove running down the length on one side. The junction of bowl and stem has been bound around with a piece of buff coloured textile (Pantone 7401C) woven with blue thread (Pantone 549C), with the join sealed at the top with a dark reddish coloured resinous material. This cloth both binds the two elements, and helps this section fit snugly into the gourd body. The water pipe is complete and intact, and has a weight of 56.8 grams. The gourd section is 268 mm long, with a body diameter of 94 mm, and diameters at the base of the neck of 28.7 mm and at the top of the neck of 14 mm. The top opening is 3 mm wide, while the shoulder opening has a diameter of 27 mm. The wire is 0.9 mm in diameter. The pottery bowl has a rim diameter of 22 mm, and a mouth opening 18 mm across, while the body measures 27.7 mm. The wooden tube measures 19.5 by 18.7 mm, and has an opening 10 mm wide at its base; both tube and bowl have a combined length of 127 mm.

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 ‘White 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.

Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.

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. 114, pencil insert] 131 [end insert] - Water pipe, of gourd with pottery bowl, White Nile.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].

Written on object - WHITE NILE. Pres. by D. Gunn Esq. 1903 [RTS 21/10/2004].