Dinka parrying shield
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.9
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Warab Fanamweir
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved , Hollowed
Dimensions:
L = 1570; max W = 129, Max Th = 81, Min W = 28, Min th = 23, handle W = 21.5, opening for grip = 81 by 98 mm [RTS 3/1/2005].
Weight:
2700 g
Local Name:
?kuerr kwerr ?quayre ?quer
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 12/1/2005].
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:
Parrying shield carved out from a single piece of dark brown wood (Pantone black 4C).
This consists of a narrow, elongated body, swollen at the centre, then tapering to squared-off ends.
This central area has been hollowed out on one side to form a rectangular handle with the inner face slightly curved where the fingers would fit around it, and a concave hollow behind to allow room for the rest of the hand.
The body has been cut with flat sides, giving it a pentagonal section, with an angular ridge running along the back.
An angular U-shaped groove has been cut into the front edge, being deepest on either side of the handle and then petering out well before the ends.
This is a large example of this type of shield, and quite heavy.
There is some polish on the handle grip, probably from use.
The shield is complete, but has numerous splits along the length and a few minor surface cuts or chips.
It has a weight of 2700 grams, and is 1570 mm long, with a maximum width at the grip of 129 mm and a thickness there of 81 mm, while the minimum thickness near the ends is 23 mm; the handle is 21.5 mm wide, and the grip opening measures 81 by 98 mm.
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. Powell-Cotton made ethnographic films during this trip, with footage including a staged fight between a Dinka and Jur, each armed with a 'knobkerry and heavy parrying shield' (see the description in Mrs Powell Cotton, "Village Handicrafts in the Sudan", Man 34 (112), pp 90-91).
This object is very similar in style to 1936.10.11 (Ngok Dinka) and 1931.66.10, 1944.10.20-21 (Dinka) and 1979.20.75 (Dinka Tuich). Schweinfurth gives the Dinka name for this type of shield as kuerr / Kwerr (G. Schweinfurth, 1875, Artes Africanae, pl. I figs 13-15, giving the wood species as diospyrus mespiliformis; G. Schweinfurth The Heat of Africa, 1873, vol. 1, p. 156, in anglicised spelling as quayre ). Note that Petherick also illustrated the type, which he associated with the Mundu, a group located between the Dinka and the Zande (J. Petherick, 1861, "On the Arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa, Bordering on the White Nile", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution IV no. 13, fig. 16). Some parry shields of this type have the groove running all the way along the length, probably to allow a spear to be fitted in the slot and carried more easily (D. Plasche & M.A. Zirngibl, 1992, African Shields, p. 75). However this works less well for this particular example, which is also rather crudely made and particularly weighty.
Rachael Sparks 1/8/2005.
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. Powell-Cotton made ethnographic films during this trip, with footage including a staged fight between a Dinka and Jur, each armed with a 'knobkerry and heavy parrying shield' (see the description in Mrs Powell Cotton, "Village Handicrafts in the Sudan", Man 34 (112), pp 90-91).
This object is very similar in style to 1936.10.11 (Ngok Dinka) and 1931.66.10, 1944.10.20-21 (Dinka) and 1979.20.75 (Dinka Tuich). Schweinfurth gives the Dinka name for this type of shield as kuerr / Kwerr (G. Schweinfurth, 1875, Artes Africanae, pl. I figs 13-15, giving the wood species as diospyrus mespiliformis; G. Schweinfurth The Heat of Africa, 1873, vol. 1, p. 156, in anglicised spelling as quayre ). Note that Petherick also illustrated the type, which he associated with the Mundu, a group located between the Dinka and the Zande (J. Petherick, 1861, "On the Arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa, Bordering on the White Nile", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution IV no. 13, fig. 16). Some parry shields of this type have the groove running all the way along the length, probably to allow a spear to be fitted in the slot and carried more easily (D. Plasche & M.A. Zirngibl, 1992, African Shields, p. 75). However this works less well for this particular example, which is also rather crudely made and particularly weighty.
Rachael Sparks 1/8/2005.
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] 9 [end insert] - Long parrying-shield, with expanded centre & grip carved out of the solid, used in fighting with knobkerries, ib[idem] [FANAMWEIR] (2021).
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 247] - 1934.8.9 No given AP l[ength] = 1580 mm.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 6/4/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2021, "F ighting knob Kerry [insert, handwritten] Parrying-shield used in fighting with knob-kerries & Sticks [end insert] [no native name given], 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].
Written on object - DINKA. Powell-Cotton coll. 1934 (2021) [RTS 12/1/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label [rectangular, metal-edged] - Parrying-shield used in fighting with knobkerries. DINKA, FANAMWEIR, WHITE NILE, 8° 55' N, 28° 42' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (2021) [front], 1934.8.9 [back, pencil].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 247] - 1934.8.9 No given AP l[ength] = 1580 mm.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 6/4/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2021, "F ighting knob Kerry [insert, handwritten] Parrying-shield used in fighting with knob-kerries & Sticks [end insert] [no native name given], 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].
Written on object - DINKA. Powell-Cotton coll. 1934 (2021) [RTS 12/1/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label [rectangular, metal-edged] - Parrying-shield used in fighting with knobkerries. DINKA, FANAMWEIR, WHITE NILE, 8° 55' N, 28° 42' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (2021) [front], 1934.8.9 [back, pencil].
