Lotuko amulets
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.75
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Loronyo
Cultural Group:
Lotuko [Otuho]
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Animal Ivory Tooth , Brass Metal , Iron Metal , ?Copper Metal , String? , ?Tin Metal
Process:
Perforated , Stitched , Bent , Carved , Polished , Forged (Metal) Hammered Strung
Dimensions:
Max L = 735 mm, Band W = 29.7, th = 2.2, L beaded strings = 258 and 270 mm, Diam bead = 7 mm, th = 5 mm; pendant 1 L = 165, diam = 19.7 mm; pendant 2 L = 165, W = 21, Th = 20.5 mm; diam pendant holes = 8 mm [RTS 25/8/2004].
Weight:
227 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater) on 17th April 1933 during a shooting expedition.
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
17th April 1933
Description:
Ornament consisting of two narrow strips of animal hide, the outer parts of which is still covered with yellowish brown animal hair (Pantone 7509C), bent into a loop to wear as a band over the chest.
These are joined together on one side; the exact method by which this has been done is not clear, but seems to involve two pairs of holes through which some kind of thong has been threaded.
The join is largely covered by a thin strip of sheet metal, bent around the strap at this point with its ends almost touching on the other side.
This has a slightly raised crease running around its body, parallel to the upper edge, and it may be a piece of reused tin can.
The hide band becomes more narrow towards its lower part, where it gradually tapers to each end.
These have been passed through the suspension holes of two large yellow ivory pendants (Pantone 7509-7510C), crossing over one another with the ends of the strips just protruding on the other side of each hole.
These ends have been perforated, and another narrow piece of hide passed through them, onto which have been strung a series of metal beads made from rectangular pieces of metal bent into a loop with their ends hammered closed so that only a slight seam is visible.
The last bead on each string is held in place by the hide itself, which was probably compressed while pliable to thread the beads, then allowed to expand naturally at either end.
One string consists of 44 beads (40 brass, 2 iron and 2 copper), the other of 45 beads (36 brass, 8 iron and 1 copper).
These are complete, but have some surface corrosion; colours include metallic brass (Pantone 872C), grey (Pantone 877C) and copper (Pantone 876C).
The 2 ivory pendants, which hang between the beaded strings, are similar in form to 1934.8.74, each being carved from a single piece of yellowish brown ivory and consisting of a very slightly convex top on narrow body, with their sides flaring out to a carination point 37 mm below.
The body then tapers to a point at the other end with one convex and one slightly flattened tip.
The lower part of their bodies have 6 and 5 parallel grooves cut around their respective circumferences, creating a series of decorative ridges.
The rest of their surfaces have been polished.
The pendants are oval to round in section throughout, and have been pierced near their tops with large suspension holes.
Both are complete, but have cracks running down their lengths.
The total length of the object is 735 mm, and it has a weight of 227 grams.
The chest band has a maximum width of 29.7 mm and is 2.2 mm thick; the beaded strings are 258 and 270 mm long, with a typical bead having a diameter of 7 mm and being 5 mm thick; the ivory pendants measure 165 by diameter 19.7 and 165 by 21 by 20.5 mm respectively and their holes have diameters of 8 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Loronyo on 17th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
These pendants were strung over the chest and were used as amulets. For an unstrung example, see 1934.8.74, which is known as nalatome; for a smaller version worn around the neck, see 1934.8.73; both are attributed to the Lotuko.
Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Loronyo on 17th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
These pendants were strung over the chest and were used as amulets. For an unstrung example, see 1934.8.74, which is known as nalatome; for a smaller version worn around the neck, see 1934.8.73; both are attributed to the Lotuko.
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.
256, insert] 75 [end insert] - Pair of ditto [ivory amulets], mounted on a hide chest-band, with pendant strings of brass & iron beads, ib[idem] [LARONYO] (731).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 26/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Latuka Tribe". This object appears as item 731: "Hide chest band, ends with brass beads, 2 ivory charms 6 1/2", usual curved ends, 17/4/33 Laronyo, 4.38 N 32.37 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 labe l - Hide chest-band with pendant amulets. LATUKA, LARONYO, E. SUDAN. 4° 38’ N, 32° 37’ E. d.d. major Powell Cotton, 1934 (731) [DCF Court Team 25/6/2003, tied to object].
Written on object - 731 [pencil; RTS 23/8/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 26/5/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Latuka Tribe". This object appears as item 731: "Hide chest band, ends with brass beads, 2 ivory charms 6 1/2", usual curved ends, 17/4/33 Laronyo, 4.38 N 32.37 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 labe l - Hide chest-band with pendant amulets. LATUKA, LARONYO, E. SUDAN. 4° 38’ N, 32° 37’ E. d.d. major Powell Cotton, 1934 (731) [DCF Court Team 25/6/2003, tied to object].
Written on object - 731 [pencil; RTS 23/8/2004].
