Lango fringe apron
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1940.7.081 .1
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [Al Istiwa'iyah] [Equatoria] Eastern Equatoria ?Bahr el Jebel
Cultural Group:
Lango
Date Made:
By 1940
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Iron Metal
Process:
Plaited , Perforated , Bound , Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Bent
Dimensions:
L belt with tail = 580; Belt W = 11.3, th = 8.7; tail L = 330, W = 20.5, th = 10.5 mm; tail binding W = 5 mm; chain apron L = 120, max W = 82, th = 6 mm; iron links L = 7, W = 5, th = 3 mm [RTS 1/4/2005].
Weight:
218.2 g
Local Name:
ariko
Other Owners:
Samuel P. Powell
Field Collector:
Samuel P. Powell
PRM Source:
Samuel P. Powell
Acquired:
Loaned July 1940
Collected Date:
By 1940
Description:
Narrow belt made from three strips of brown animal hide, perforated along their length and interwoven, to create a herringbone style of plaiting, with the resulting band then bent into a loop that would fit around the waist.
Beyond this point, the long ends of these strips remain unplaited, with the whole being smeared with red ochre (Pantone 477C).
The unplaited part has been bound around with a narrow strip of yellow hide (Pantone 730C), in itself made from several short strips knotted together, to form a stiff 'tail' that projects straight out from the back.
At the front of the belt is an apron, made from thirteen iron chains of around 30 links each; these consist of simple flat strips of iron hammered into loops with closed ends.
At the top, each chain has been threaded through a yellow hide strip that is wound around the body at this point, while at their base a narrower strip has been threaded through and then knotted at either end to prevent it slipping out; this helps the base of the apron retain its shape.
The object is complete, although the tail binding is unravelling at its end; the surface of the metal is slightly greasy, with accreted dirt.
It has a weight of 218.2 grams; the belt is 580 mm long, as tied and including the tail, 11.3 mm wide and 8.7 mm thick; the tail is is 330 mm long, 20.5 mm wide and 10.5 mm thick at its top; the tail binding is 5 mm wide; the chain apron is 120 mm long, 82 mm wide and 6 mm thick, with a typical link being 7 mm long, 5 mm wide and 3 mm thick.
Collected by Samuel P. Powell from the 'Langu' in the Equatorial Province of Southern Sudan, and loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1940. This province, also known as 'Al Istiwa'iyah', was in existence until 1981, after which point it was divided into the districts of Eastern and Western Equatoria; in the 1990's these were subdivided further into the modern administrative districts of Western Equatoria, Bahr el Jebel, and Eastern Equatoria. If the Langu tribe is the same as the Lango, they are associated with the area around the Torit district, suggesting a provenance for this object in the modern administrative districts of either Eastern Equatoria or Bahr el Jebel.
This apron was worn by women, together with 1940.7.081.2 (a waist ornament) and 1940.7.081.3 (a narrow leather apron or tail strip).
Driberg discusses what sounds like this type of garment in his book on the (Ugandan) Lango: 'From about the age of five girls wear over the pudenda a few strings or threads (called chip) made from the hibiscus, increasing in number with the age of the wearer. There are attached to a thin leather girdle ( del ) which is fastened behind and twisted into a stick-like leather continuation ( achudi) which projects backwards. If the father is prosperous, an unmarried girl wears an ariko , or apron of small metal chains in place of threads. It is given her by her father, and is increased in size according as he can get more chains made, an apron ten chains wide costing one goat. It is wearable until the woman has borne two children; but generally, when she marries, the husband takes it, and if he has a younger sister gives it to her; if not, he sells it" (J.H. Driberg 1923, The Lango, pp 64-65). The chip and achudi del are illustrated by a photograph opposite p. 64. According to Driberg, achudi is simply defined as a protuberance or projection. ' Achudi del ' is specifically the projecting ends of this type of girdle (J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, p. 359, defined in his Lango-English dictionary at the back of the volume).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Collected by Samuel P. Powell from the 'Langu' in the Equatorial Province of Southern Sudan, and loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1940. This province, also known as 'Al Istiwa'iyah', was in existence until 1981, after which point it was divided into the districts of Eastern and Western Equatoria; in the 1990's these were subdivided further into the modern administrative districts of Western Equatoria, Bahr el Jebel, and Eastern Equatoria. If the Langu tribe is the same as the Lango, they are associated with the area around the Torit district, suggesting a provenance for this object in the modern administrative districts of either Eastern Equatoria or Bahr el Jebel.
This apron was worn by women, together with 1940.7.081.2 (a waist ornament) and 1940.7.081.3 (a narrow leather apron or tail strip).
Driberg discusses what sounds like this type of garment in his book on the (Ugandan) Lango: 'From about the age of five girls wear over the pudenda a few strings or threads (called chip) made from the hibiscus, increasing in number with the age of the wearer. There are attached to a thin leather girdle ( del ) which is fastened behind and twisted into a stick-like leather continuation ( achudi) which projects backwards. If the father is prosperous, an unmarried girl wears an ariko , or apron of small metal chains in place of threads. It is given her by her father, and is increased in size according as he can get more chains made, an apron ten chains wide costing one goat. It is wearable until the woman has borne two children; but generally, when she marries, the husband takes it, and if he has a younger sister gives it to her; if not, he sells it" (J.H. Driberg 1923, The Lango, pp 64-65). The chip and achudi del are illustrated by a photograph opposite p. 64. According to Driberg, achudi is simply defined as a protuberance or projection. ' Achudi del ' is specifically the projecting ends of this type of girdle (J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, p. 359, defined in his Lango-English dictionary at the back of the volume).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[Loans II, p.
308] - ESTATE OF S.P.
POWELL, C/O N.H.
HASLAM, Esq.
Manager, Westminster Bank, Stony Stratford, Bucks.
Collected by himself.
Data from his labels and notes.
[p.
313] 1940.7.081 - Woman's dress, complete (3 pieces) incl.
1 "extra tail" (a) [.1] Girdle, with sporran of iron chains, (b) [.2] beads on leather strap (c) [.3] strip of leather.
LANGU TRIBE, EQUATORIAL PROVINCE, A[NGLO].-E[GYPTIAN] SUDAN.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 24/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Appears on undated typed list: "Langu woman's dress in three pieces, but this includes an extra tail". List is annotated by hand on back: "List of Curios" and "Far from complete" [RTS 16/12/2003].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Woman's dress (complete, 3 pieces, 1 extra tail) LANGU, (E. of Upper Nile) ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN. S.P. Powell 1940.7.081a [brown luggage label, tied to object; RTS 3/3/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 24/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Appears on undated typed list: "Langu woman's dress in three pieces, but this includes an extra tail". List is annotated by hand on back: "List of Curios" and "Far from complete" [RTS 16/12/2003].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Woman's dress (complete, 3 pieces, 1 extra tail) LANGU, (E. of Upper Nile) ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN. S.P. Powell 1940.7.081a [brown luggage label, tied to object; RTS 3/3/2005].
