Acholi shield
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1952.5.10
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Acholi?
Date Made:
By January 1952
Materials:
Animal Hide Skin , Wood Plant , Ostrich Feather Bird , Plant Fibre , Bark Fibre Plant
Process:
Carved , Polished , Perforated , Stitched , Plaited , Bound
Dimensions:
Hide body L = 580, W = 260, th = 10 mm; wood strut L = 710, W = 15, th = 13.5 mm; handle guard W = 59; side handle L = 180, W = 8.5, th = 5 mm; thong stitches W = 5 mm; feather ball diam = 55.3 mm [RTS 24/3/2005].
Weight:
>1000 g
Other Owners:
Said to be collected in the Nilotic Sudan about 1850; part of collection of Mr Webb, sold at auction at Glendinnings on 12th or 13th of September 1932, lot 44, and purchased by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, being accessioned by them on 24th Sept
PRM Source:
Wellcome Historical Medical Museum
Acquired:
Donated 1952
Collected Date:
circa 1850
Description:
Rectangular shield formed from a thick piece of animal hide, with straight sides that begin to curve slightly at each tapering corner, with a short rectangular piece of hide extending slightly from the centre of the base; this has been folded up and inwards.
The front surface is mostly concave across its width, but undulates from concave to convex down its length.
A rounded rib runs down the centre, where the hide has been pushed up from the underside.
This is flanked by large pairs of stitches on either side, made from doubled up narrow hide thongs, arranged as single pairs at the top and bottom of the shield, then as 2 groups of double pairs down the centre.
Both hide and thongs are a yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7508C).
The stitching holds a wooden strut running down the back of the shield in place.
This strut has been carved from a single piece of reddish brown wood (Pantone 731C), roughly oval in section but with the sides partially shaved to create some faceted surfaces.
This has been highly polished wherever the wood has been exposed.
It extends just above the top of the body, and further below its base.
The centre of this strut has been bent outwards to form a hand grip, where a thick lentoid-shaped piece of hide has been cut out and fitted beneath the grip to protect the hand.
This has been pierced near its upper and lower end, and has been secured by hide thongs that pass around the wood, through these holes to the front of the shield body and back again; these form 2 of the thong stitches visible on the other side of the object.
The remaining stitches were used to fix the upper and lower parts of the strut in place.
There is also a single wooden wedge jammed between the protector and the handle, just above its fastening thong, presumably to help maintain the gap beneath the handle.
There is a corresponding gap at the base of the protector, where a second wedge may once have been present, as described by Driberg for Lango versions (J.H.
Driberg, 1923,
The Lango,
82; the Lango call these wedges
achwal abela
).
A narrow but thick piece of hide was then tied onto the wood, to run as a narrow handle down one side of the hand grip.
The strut itself has been strengthened with a binding of narrow hide strips, wrapped around the body and then plaited to form a raised rib running down the length.
This binding does not cover the handle or those areas that extend beyond the body of the shield.
There is a single hide loop near the top of the strut, presumably for suspension.
The projecting lower end of the wooden strut has been decorated with a spherical ball of black feathers (Pantone black 6C), probably ostrich in this case, mixed with some reddish brown plant fibre (bark?) and some twisted fibre string used as a binding.
The shield would have been shaped when wet, and the wood was polished only after it had been bound round with the hide strips.
The shield is complete, with patches of wear on the front, including some discolouration; the wooden strut has split down its length, and the feathers have mostly broken just above their bases.
It weighs greater than 1000 grams.
The hide body is 580 mm long, 260 mm wide and 10 mm thick; the wooden strut is 710 mm long, 15 mm wide and 13.5 mm thick; the handle guard plate is 59 mm wide, and the side handle is 180 mm long, 8.5 mm wide and 5 mm thick.
The thong stitching is 5 mm wide and the ball of feathers has a diameter of 55.3 mm.
Said to be collected in the Nilotic Sudan about 1850, and forming part of the collection of Mr Webb, which was sold at auction at Glendinnings on 12th or 13th of September 1932, as lot 44. It was purchased by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, and accessioned on 24th September 1936 as R 10891/1936, then subsequently donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum at the seventh distribution of Wellcome material, which took place at the British Museum on 24th January 1952.
The collection date of around 1850 is very early, and if correct, may be contemporary with the activities of European traders such as John Petherick, and some of the early European missionaries working in the area. For an Acholi sword, said to date from around the same period, see 1939.7.109.
This style of rectangular hide shield is found amongst several cultural groups in southern Sudan and northern Uganda, including the Toposa (1939.7.120), Turkana, Suk, Didinga, Larim (1979.20.146), Acholi and Lango; see M. Trowell & K.P. Wachsmann, 1953, Tribal Crafts of Uganda, 229-230 and pl. 58.A1-2 and B1-2, and J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, 81-82, both of whom describe how these shields were made. Amongst the Acholi and the Lango, both authors suggest that balls of feathers would be added to the base of the shield prior to battle - ostrich, or chicken mixed with the owner's hair. Driberg tells us that Lango men usually made their own shields (op.cit., p. 82). The Acholi and Lango versions tend to be larger than those used by the Toposa, Didinga, Turkana and Larim, who tend to use them as parry shields in close combat (C. Spring, 1993, African Arms and Armour, p. 121 and fig. 116; J. Mack, 1982, "Material Culture and Ethnic Identity in Southeastern Sudan, in J. Mack & P. Robertshaw (eds), Culture History in the Southern Sudan, p. 116 and fig. 2).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Said to be collected in the Nilotic Sudan about 1850, and forming part of the collection of Mr Webb, which was sold at auction at Glendinnings on 12th or 13th of September 1932, as lot 44. It was purchased by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, and accessioned on 24th September 1936 as R 10891/1936, then subsequently donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum at the seventh distribution of Wellcome material, which took place at the British Museum on 24th January 1952.
The collection date of around 1850 is very early, and if correct, may be contemporary with the activities of European traders such as John Petherick, and some of the early European missionaries working in the area. For an Acholi sword, said to date from around the same period, see 1939.7.109.
This style of rectangular hide shield is found amongst several cultural groups in southern Sudan and northern Uganda, including the Toposa (1939.7.120), Turkana, Suk, Didinga, Larim (1979.20.146), Acholi and Lango; see M. Trowell & K.P. Wachsmann, 1953, Tribal Crafts of Uganda, 229-230 and pl. 58.A1-2 and B1-2, and J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, 81-82, both of whom describe how these shields were made. Amongst the Acholi and the Lango, both authors suggest that balls of feathers would be added to the base of the shield prior to battle - ostrich, or chicken mixed with the owner's hair. Driberg tells us that Lango men usually made their own shields (op.cit., p. 82). The Acholi and Lango versions tend to be larger than those used by the Toposa, Didinga, Turkana and Larim, who tend to use them as parry shields in close combat (C. Spring, 1993, African Arms and Armour, p. 121 and fig. 116; J. Mack, 1982, "Material Culture and Ethnic Identity in Southeastern Sudan, in J. Mack & P. Robertshaw (eds), Culture History in the Southern Sudan, p. 116 and fig. 2).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
122] - WELLCOME HISTORICAL MEDICAL MUSEUM (From seventh distribution, at the British Museum, on 24-i-’52.) [p.
123] 1952.5.10 SUDAN, probably SHULI.
[insert] = ACHOLI [end insert].
Oblong hide shield, attached to vertical wooden axis and handle, with coarse hairy pommel at upper end.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
RDF 1952.5.10 - Email from R. Sparks to Wellcome, dated 30th March 2005, enquiring about records for this item, and reply from Dr Lesley A. Hall dated 7th April 2005, prior to sending photocopies of their accessions entries, namely: copy of accession register for R10891 from the archives of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum (WA/HMM/CM/Acc/33), with entry reading: "1936, 24th September, R10891. Shield . Hide with central wood strut. 29" x 10 1/2 " rectangular. Collected about 1850. Nilotic, Sudan, African. [obtained from] 133830. Glendinning. 12/13 Sept. 1932. Lot 44 (Webb), [cost] £1.3.0", and cataloguing 'flimsy' (ref: WA/HMM/CM/inv/A165), reading: [accessions no.] 133830, [classification] AA, [section] SHL Afri. [description]: SHIELD . Hide, with central wood strut. 29" x 10 1/2 " rectangular. From the Nile - collected about 1850. [insert, handwritten] Nilotic Sudan, Africa [end insert]. [Acquisition] Glen 44/12 & 13/IX/1932 (Mr Webb). [case No.] R 10891/ 1936 A. [RTS 11/4/2005].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - 1952.5.10 SUDAN , Shuli (?), Gift of Wellcome Hist. Med. Museum (rectangular brown tag, tied to object), AFRICA, SUDAN, ?ACHOLI. Hide and wood shield. Don. Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. 1952.5.10 [plastic tag with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 24/3/2005].
Written on object - R 10891/1936 [black ink on front; this is the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum Accession number; RTS 24/3/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].
RDF 1952.5.10 - Email from R. Sparks to Wellcome, dated 30th March 2005, enquiring about records for this item, and reply from Dr Lesley A. Hall dated 7th April 2005, prior to sending photocopies of their accessions entries, namely: copy of accession register for R10891 from the archives of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum (WA/HMM/CM/Acc/33), with entry reading: "1936, 24th September, R10891. Shield . Hide with central wood strut. 29" x 10 1/2 " rectangular. Collected about 1850. Nilotic, Sudan, African. [obtained from] 133830. Glendinning. 12/13 Sept. 1932. Lot 44 (Webb), [cost] £1.3.0", and cataloguing 'flimsy' (ref: WA/HMM/CM/inv/A165), reading: [accessions no.] 133830, [classification] AA, [section] SHL Afri. [description]: SHIELD . Hide, with central wood strut. 29" x 10 1/2 " rectangular. From the Nile - collected about 1850. [insert, handwritten] Nilotic Sudan, Africa [end insert]. [Acquisition] Glen 44/12 & 13/IX/1932 (Mr Webb). [case No.] R 10891/ 1936 A. [RTS 11/4/2005].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - 1952.5.10 SUDAN , Shuli (?), Gift of Wellcome Hist. Med. Museum (rectangular brown tag, tied to object), AFRICA, SUDAN, ?ACHOLI. Hide and wood shield. Don. Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. 1952.5.10 [plastic tag with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 24/3/2005].
Written on object - R 10891/1936 [black ink on front; this is the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum Accession number; RTS 24/3/2005].
