Mandari women
104 x 98 mm | Print gelatin silver
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
JB.2.69
Accession Number:
1998.97.87.2
Description:
A full length group portrait of four young Mandari women wearing textile body cloths and a variety of bead strings around their necks.
Such bead strings were often given to young women by courting male youths.
The woman to the right is wearing an elaborate and high status set of 'corset' of beads up her hips as far as her breasts, presumably gifted to her by a wealthy youth admirer.
Youths wear such rem beads as a way of denoting their age grade grouping and for display.
The women have cut their hair into a crown and carefully painted their heads with ochre or ash a light colour.
They all have also the scarification marks commen to Dari women after the manner of the Dinka radiating forehead initiation marks.
Among the Mandari however both men and women made such marks for aesethically pleasing effect only.
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:
Clothing , Ornament , Body Art
Keyword:
Textile , Ornament Neck , Ornament Body , Body Art Paint , Body Art Skin
Documentation:
See Related Documents File. Buxton field notebooks in Tylor Library.
Other Information:
In Some Notes on the Mandari of Equatoria Province, A.E.
Sudan, (typescript notebook of c.1951 in Tylor Library, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford), book II, page 209, Jean Buxton notes that 'There are no age-sets for girls.
They cannot wear REM beads.
Or rather they do wear them, because they are given strings by the young men, but the wearing of them has no significance, they can wear any colour they like.' [Chris Morton 18/1/2005]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 20/1/2005 [Southern Sudan Project]
