Lotuko necklet
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.72
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Torit
Cultural Group:
Lotuko [Otuho]
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Giraffe Hair Animal
Process:
Wound , Tied
Dimensions:
Max L = 170 mm Max W = 153 mm Inside L = 158 mm Inside W = 144 mm L grips = 13 mm W grips = 6.8 mm Th grips = 5.8 mm; hair less than 1 mm diam [RTS 23/6/2004].
Weight:
3.5 g
Local Name:
arigidi
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 4th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
4th April 1933
Description:
Annular necklet, made from around 23 strands of wiry black giraffe hair (Pantone black 7C), bent into a roughly circular loop.
In four places around the body, loose hair ends have been folded over to form a thick bundle, with another strand of giraffe hair wound tightly around them to form a cylinder.
The sides of each of these grips is further decorated with a double strand of hair; on the third grip, an extra strand has been loosely wound around these side pieces, while on the fourth grip they are tightly bound, forming a neat oval frame around the cylinder.
These grips compress the giraffe hairs of the body as they pass through, and helps keep the shape of the necklet.
They were probably designed to slide along the hair strands, allowing the wearer to adjust its diameter to fit.
At present, only one of these slides still moves, the others being encrusted with red ochre.
The necklet is complete, but several of the hairs have broken; it weighs 3.5 grams.
The necklet measures 170 by 153 mm across its outside edges, and 158 by 144 across its inside; the cylindrical grips are 13 mm long, 6.8 mm wide and 5.8 mm thick.
Each individual hair strand is less than 1 mm in diameter.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Torit on 4th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
This type of object is known as arigidi. A similar necklet was collected by Patti Langton amongst the Southern Larim (see 1979.20.191); this was made of four groups of strands and had more complex grips, although of comparable style. See also Zande bracelet 1934.8.141 which is of similar design, and Kuku necklet 1940.7.0107.2.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Torit on 4th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
This type of object is known as arigidi. A similar necklet was collected by Patti Langton amongst the Southern Larim (see 1979.20.191); this was made of four groups of strands and had more complex grips, although of comparable style. See also Zande bracelet 1934.8.141 which is of similar design, and Kuku necklet 1940.7.0107.2.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
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: [...] [p.
252] - From the
LATUKA
tribe, NAVERA, TORIT, LARONYO.
[p.
254, insert] 72 [end insert] - Necklet,
arigidi
, of giraffe hairs.
TORIT (428).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 28/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Tribe Latuka". This object appears as item 428: "Necklet, Giraffe hair, native name Arigidi , 4/4/33 Torit, 4.24 N 32.34 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].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Arigidi , necklet of giraffe's hair. LATUKA, TORIT, E. SUDAN. 4° 24' N., 32° 34' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (428) [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object, RTS 23/6/2004]. [reverse:] 1934.8.72 [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 7/10/2005]
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 28/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Tribe Latuka". This object appears as item 428: "Necklet, Giraffe hair, native name Arigidi , 4/4/33 Torit, 4.24 N 32.34 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].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Arigidi , necklet of giraffe's hair. LATUKA, TORIT, E. SUDAN. 4° 24' N., 32° 34' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (428) [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object, RTS 23/6/2004]. [reverse:] 1934.8.72 [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 7/10/2005]
