Bari arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.50
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Bahr el Jebel Peridi
Cultural Group:
Bari
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Brass Metal
Process:
Hammered , Incised , Inlaid
Dimensions:
L = 84.3 mm, W = 70.4 mm, Ht = 19 mm [RTS 24/3/2004].
Weight:
85.7 g
Local Name:
kite
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 9th February 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:
9th February 1933
Description:
Penannular armlet made from a band of brass with rectangular section bent into an oval loop with open ends, 16 mm apart.
The ends have been folded back onto themselves and hammered flat.
It has been decorated on the outer face with incised designs on either arm, mirroring each other.
Moving towards each end, these consist of a simple crows-foot pattern made from three incised lines meeting at a single point; two crosshatched >-shaped chevron bands; a crosshatched triangle with its apex pointing towards the chevrons; a similar triangle, pointing in the opposite direction, and then another one incised on the folded back end.
One of these last triangles has been very crudely executed, and in many places, the crosshatching lines extend beyond the boundaries of the shapes that they are supposed to fill.
These designs appear to be inlaid with a reddish material (Pantone 478C), possibly ochre, while a thick paste of this material has been used to fill in the small gap between the folded back ends and armlet body.
This looks to be deliberate, rather than accidental, as other areas of the bracelet are not smeared with the same substance.
There is additional decoration on the narrow flat edges of the band, consisting of incised oblique hatching.
On one of these edges this has been completely worn away, presumably where the metal was rubbing against another object.
The metal is in good condition, still preserving its original metallic yellow colouring (Pantone 871C).
The length across the armlet is 84.3 mm, and the width across is 70.4 mm; the length across the inside edges is 81 mm, with the thickness of the metal being 2 mm and the width of the band 19 mm; it has a weight of 85.7 grams.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Peridi on 9th February 1933 during a shooting expedition. While the precise location of Peridi has yet to be established (it lies at co-ordinates 5.23 N., 31.49 E) , it is probably to be located in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebel, Southern Sudan, west of Mongalla.
The armlet is known in Bari as kite. Two other Bari objects in the museum also have traces of ochre on the surface: armlet 1934.8.51 and a twisted iron torque, 1903.2.3, as well as a twisted Lotuko torque, 1934.8.67 and hide necklets 1934.8.70-71. It is also similar to the 'red paste' in which a number of beads are embedded on Murle bracelet 1884.82.23.
This object is currently on display in the Lower Gallery, case 111A.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Peridi on 9th February 1933 during a shooting expedition. While the precise location of Peridi has yet to be established (it lies at co-ordinates 5.23 N., 31.49 E) , it is probably to be located in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebel, Southern Sudan, west of Mongalla.
The armlet is known in Bari as kite. Two other Bari objects in the museum also have traces of ochre on the surface: armlet 1934.8.51 and a twisted iron torque, 1903.2.3, as well as a twisted Lotuko torque, 1934.8.67 and hide necklets 1934.8.70-71. It is also similar to the 'red paste' in which a number of beads are embedded on Murle bracelet 1884.82.23.
This object is currently on display in the Lower Gallery, case 111A.
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] 50 [end insert] - Engraved brass penannular armlet,
kite
, ib[idem] [PERIDI] (193).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 12/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - kite , armlet. BARI, PERIDI, E. SUDAN. 5° 23' N, 31° 49' E. d.d. Major Powell Cotton, 1934. 1934.8.50 (193) [tied to object; RTS 24/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Barri Tribe". This object appears as item 193: "Bracelet, brass band, double ends, engraved, native name Kite , 9/2/33 Peridi, 5.23 N. 31.49 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 12/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - kite , armlet. BARI, PERIDI, E. SUDAN. 5° 23' N, 31° 49' E. d.d. Major Powell Cotton, 1934. 1934.8.50 (193) [tied to object; RTS 24/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Barri Tribe". This object appears as item 193: "Bracelet, brass band, double ends, engraved, native name Kite , 9/2/33 Peridi, 5.23 N. 31.49 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].
