Mandari man with boys
81 x 81 mm | Print gelatin silver
There are records relating to alternative images that we do not have scans for in the database:
1998.97.83.1 - Negative film nitrate , (56 x 56 mm)
1998.97.83.1 - Negative film nitrate , (56 x 56 mm)
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
JB.2.65
Accession Number:
1998.97.83.2
Description:
A full length portrait of a Mandari man wearing a thick and expensive ivory arm ornament, with three boys (probably sons) in their homestead, standing next to two wooden shrine stakes (ködi lo jok).
The family would sometimes make offerings to such shrines to spiritual powers, for instance after diagnosis by a Mandari doctor regarding illness caused by a malevolent spirit.
The shrine stake thereby stands for the presence of a spirit within the family dwelling.
Photographer:
Jean Carlile Buxton
Date of Photo:
1950 - 1952
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Bahr el Jebel Tali
Group:
Mandari Dari
PRM Source:
Ronald Carlile Buxton via Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Acquired:
Donated 1988
Other Owners:
Jean Buxton Collection
Class:
Ornament , Religion , Ritual
Keyword:
Ornament Arm , Shrine
Documentation:
See Related Documents File. Buxton field notebooks in Tylor Library.
Other Information:
In Religion and Healing in Mandari (Oxford, Clarendon Press 1973) Jean Buxton notes (page 72) that 'The relationship between a man and a Power which has seized his family and been established by the raising of a shrine, is described in kinship terms: "The Power becomes a relative, a person of the homestead..." [Chris Morton 20/1/2005]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 20/1/2005 [Southern Sudan Project]
