Dinka bull collar
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.13
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Warab Fanamweir
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Plant Fibre
Process:
Twisted , Woven , Tied , Knotted
Dimensions:
Max L [doubled] = 680, W = 200, th = 4.5, W strips = 4 (at ends), 3 mm (when compressed for weave), cord diam 3.3 mm [RTS 17/11/2004].
Local Name:
dyere dier [dièr]
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater) on 3rd May 1933 during a shooting expedition [RTS 17/11/2004].
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
3rd May 1933
Description:
Broad hide collar for the neck of a bull.
This has been made from a series of narrow brown hide strips (Pantone black 4C), a few of which still have traces of reddish brown animal hair on the surface, woven into a broad, rectangular band.
The weave consists of horizontal elements, crossed by oblique loops using the coiling technique to create two narrow edging bands, with a more varied technique across the centre where these loops face opposing directions, creating a herringbone pattern that runs down the middle of the object.
At either end, the edge of the band has been doubled over itself to form a long cylindrical tube, with the loose hide strips pushed through the body of the band to secure this, before being allowed to hang down as a long fringe.
These loose hanging strands were then twisted along their lengths.
In its current state, the collar has been folded over, taking the shape that it would have had when hung around the neck of a bull, with the lower ends secured by passing a piece of cord through the rolled section and knotting it together on one side.
This cord is made of yellow plant fibre (Pantone 466C), and consists of two separate strands twisted together.
The collar shows signs of surface wear, with the hide polished in a number of areas.
As folded, it has a length of 680 mm, a width of 200 mm, and the band itself is 4.5 mm thick.
The hide strips, that make up the weave and fringe, have a width of 4 mm, untwisted, and 3 mm, when compressed for weaving, while the cord has a diameter of 3.3 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Fanamweir on 3rd May 1933, during a shooting expedition.
The Dinka name for this object was recorded as dyere. Nebel defines the term Dièr as ‘collar of a bull, to carry a bell’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 24), and Langton also refers to this term (see 1979.20.93). For a thinner Dinka Tuich cow collar used to hang a bell from the neck of a cow, see 1979.20.93; for a Nuer collar used for a similar purpose, see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, fig. 4.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Fanamweir on 3rd May 1933, during a shooting expedition.
The Dinka name for this object was recorded as dyere. Nebel defines the term Dièr as ‘collar of a bull, to carry a bell’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 24), and Langton also refers to this term (see 1979.20.93). For a thinner Dinka Tuich cow collar used to hang a bell from the neck of a cow, see 1979.20.93; for a Nuer collar used for a similar purpose, see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, fig. 4.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: - From the
DINKA
tribe, FANAMWEIR & KORNUK, WHITE NILE [...] [insert] 13 [end insert] -
Dyere
, broad collar of plaited hide-strips, for a bull, ib[idem] [FANAMWEIR] (2029).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 19/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2029: "Bull collar, flat hide, 8" wide; native name Dyere , 3/5/33 Fanamweir, 8.55 N, 28.42 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Pre-PRM label? - Bull collar 2029 [front] Diep [back; reading not clear] [square tag of reused brown card; tied to object RTS 17/11/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Dyere , Hide collar for a bull. DINKA, FANAMWEIR, WHITE NILE, 8 ° 55' N., 28 ° 42' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (2029) [tied to object; L.Ph 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 8/10/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 19/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2029: "Bull collar, flat hide, 8" wide; native name Dyere , 3/5/33 Fanamweir, 8.55 N, 28.42 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Pre-PRM label? - Bull collar 2029 [front] Diep [back; reading not clear] [square tag of reused brown card; tied to object RTS 17/11/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Dyere , Hide collar for a bull. DINKA, FANAMWEIR, WHITE NILE, 8 ° 55' N., 28 ° 42' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (2029) [tied to object; L.Ph 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 8/10/2004].
