Moru Misa cooking pot

1979.20.3

Sudan

[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Lui

Moru Misa

Naomi Tudringwa

?January 1979

Pottery

Handbuilt , Fire-Hardened , Impressed

Rim diam = 182 x 185, rim th = 5; Ht = 143, max diam = 200 mm [RTS 1/4/2005].

956.5 g

wese

Made by the potter, Naomi Tudringwa, whose compound was opposite the expedition camp at Lui, and fired in the presence of the team. Purchased from her for 5 piastres by Patti Langton on 27th January 1979 as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa'

Patti Langton

Patti Langton

Purchased 1979

27 January 1979

Pottery cooking vessel, hand made from a moderately well levigated reddish brown fabric (Pantone 4645C), soft fired mottled red and black across the surface. It is circular in plan view and has a slightly inturned, narrow flat topped rim, on a deep hemispherical body with convex sides sloping down to a convex base. The exterior has been covered with a textured pattern, probably made using a roulette to impress a series of lentoid or rectangular marks. These have been applied horizontally just below the rim - with a narrow reserve strip left at the very top - but become angled and more random below this. The vessel is complete, with a small crack at the rim and some minor chips from the rim; there are also a few hairline cracks across the body. The interior is stained, suggesting that it had seen some use. It has a weight of 956.5 grams. The rim measures 182 by 185 mm across its external diameter, and is 5 mm wide; the vessel has a maximum width of 200 mm, and is 143 mm high.

This bowl was made by the potter, Naomi Tudringwa, whose compound was opposite the expedition camp at Lui; it was fired in the presence of the team. Patti Langton purchased it from her for 5 piastres on 27th January 1979, as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan.

For a photograph showing a female Moru potter using a roulette to apply decoration to a pottery vessel, see N. Barley, 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 36 top (photograph by John Mack; this similarly covers large parts of the vessel surface). Different styles of grass roulette may be found in the Pitt Rivers Museum collection; plaited grass strings (1979.20.28, Moru Misa; 1979.20.125-6, from the Dinka Tuich), and string wrapped around sticks (1949.20.27, Moru Misa).

Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.

Accession Book Entry [p. 185] - 1979.20 (.1 - 206) P[urchase] MISS PATTI LANGTON, DEPT. of ETHNOLOGY & PREHISTORY, OXFORD. Collection made by Patti Langton during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan; Jan. - April 1979. The collection was made in three culture areas during the dry season. The amount paid for each object is listed if the information is known. In Jan. 1979 £1 is equivalent to 95 piastres (pt.) Sudanese. This documentation is based largely upon Patti's own list of objects and her notes on these. Sometimes objects included in the Pitt Rivers alottment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here. See Related Documents file as well. [pp 185 - 186] 1979.20.1 - 42 SOUTHERN SUDAN the MORU MISA The Moru Misa live about 100 miles west of Juba, the capital of the Southern Sudan. Part of the collection was made in Lui, a small town which has had extensive church and missionary activity over the past 50 years (excluding the period of civil war) and which now boasts a church, a hospital and a number of schools. The rest of the Moru Misa collection was made at Lanyi, 15 miles away, where the paramount chief of the area, Chief Elinama, arranged for people to bring artifacts for us to buy. Although money is known to the Moru, its use is limited and the concept of selling belongings is foreign to them. Hence the low prices and the relatively small number of artefacts. The Moru Misa are a geographical section of the Moru people. The Moru practice agriculture for subsistence; they do not keep cattle any longer. [p. 187] 1979.20.3 - Small cooking pot, wese . These are made by women, this example by Naomi Tudringwa whose compound was opposite our camp - she fired the pot in the collector's presence. Coll. in Lui; 27.1.79. Rim Diam = 18.3 cm.; H = ca. 14 cm. Langton Coll. no. 6.
Additional Accession Book Entry [in red biro under accession number] - A5-F32-2.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 2/6/2004].

Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry [RTS 12/1/2004]. The entry for this object on Langton's list also states 'see photos', possibly images of the potter at work, and gives the purchase price as 5 piastres [RTS 6/1/2004].

Written on object - 6 [white chalk], S. SUDAN, MORU MISA, Pat. Langton. 6, 1979.20.3 [white ink, RTS 23/3/2005].