Bari fringe apron
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.46
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Bahr el Jebel Ngangala
Cultural Group:
Bari
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Perforated , Bound , Knotted , Tooled , Incised
Dimensions:
Total L = 670; tie strips W = 8, th = 1.8; fringe body W = 165, L = 120, cord diam = 1.2 mm [RTS 16/9/2005].
Weight:
147.9 g
Local Name:
kapera
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 21st April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
21st April 1933
Description:
Fringe apron, consisting of a narrow belt made from two strips of dark brown hide (Pantone Black 4C).
Each strip has been attached at one end to the apron body, and tied in place using hide cord; the loose ends would be used to tie the garment around the waist.
This was done by passing one end through a perforation about halfway along the length of the other tie and securing it at that point, leaving the ends to hang down below the waist as a decorative 'tail' or tassel - with the surface of these sections being lightly tooled to create a textured pattern.
The apron body consists of either a cord or hide piece running across the upper edge, with some kind of binding wrapped around and used to secure bundles of twisted cord, the long ends of which hang down to form a thick fringe, with each cord knotted at its base and heavily coated with reddish brown material, possibly ochre.
The apron is essentially complete, but the hide is stressed in places, and coated with a fatty bloom.
There is a row of four holes at the end of each end of the belt section; it is not clear if these are original or relate to some form of subsequent display.
It has a weight of 147.9 grams.
The total length of the object is 670 mm; the tie strips are 8 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick, while the fringe body is 165 mm wide and 120 mm long, and each fringe cord has a diameter of 1.2 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Ngangala on 21st April 1933 during a shooting expedition. This apron was worn by a girl, and is known in Bari as kapera. However note that Powell-Cotton uses the same term to describe back apron 1934.8.47.
For similar fringe aprons, see 1934.8.45 and 1940.7.09-10, also from the Bari.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Ngangala on 21st April 1933 during a shooting expedition. This apron was worn by a girl, and is known in Bari as kapera. However note that Powell-Cotton uses the same term to describe back apron 1934.8.47.
For similar fringe aprons, see 1934.8.45 and 1940.7.09-10, also from the Bari.
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: [...] [p.
252] - From the
BARI
tribe, MONGALLA, PERIDI and NGANGALA.
[insert] 46 [end insert] - Girl’s fringed apron, kapera, with hide belt, NGANGALA (765).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
?Pre-PRM label - 765 [pencil, on rectangular tag reused from a larger piece of card with writing on the reverse; stored in RDF; RTS 16/9/2005].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Kapera , girl's fringed apron. BARI, NGANGALA, E. SUDAN. 4° 42' N., 31° 55' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (765) [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 16/9/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Barri Tribe". This object appears as item 765: "Girl's fringe apron, thong waistbelt, fibre fringe knotted at ends, native name Kapera , 21/4/33 Ngangala, 4.42 N 31.55 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].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
?Pre-PRM label - 765 [pencil, on rectangular tag reused from a larger piece of card with writing on the reverse; stored in RDF; RTS 16/9/2005].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Kapera , girl's fringed apron. BARI, NGANGALA, E. SUDAN. 4° 42' N., 31° 55' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (765) [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 16/9/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Barri Tribe". This object appears as item 765: "Girl's fringe apron, thong waistbelt, fibre fringe knotted at ends, native name Kapera , 21/4/33 Ngangala, 4.42 N 31.55 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].
Display History:
Former display label - EAST SUDAN, NGANGALA, BARI.
Kapera, girl's fringed apron.
d.d.
Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (765) [Rectangular card with printed text, stored in RDF; RTS 16/9/2005].
