1946.8.98

Collection type

Object

Description

Shield made from elephant hide skin with lentoid-shaped body on a central wooden support [RTS 3/8/2005].

Long description

Shield made from a large piece of textured elephant hide, with a dark brown outer surface (Pantone Black 4C) and stained, reddish underside (Pantone 476C). The body is roughly lentoid-shaped, and has been pushed outwards at the centre to form a raised boss. Several pairs of slits have been cut in a row down the central axis, allowing 8 loops to be pulled out from the underside to hold a wooden shaft in place. This pole provides both support for the hide and a handle, with the grip area lying directly below the hollow boss so the hand can close comfortably around the wood. The skin would have been fitted over this pole while wet, with the loops tightening over the wood as they dried and fixing it securely in place. The pole has been carved from a single piece of wood, with a convex top and slightly tapering base, decorated with 2 incised grooves near the end. The wood has been stained a reddish brown colour (Pantone 4635C). There are also 3 loops made from twisted cord tied onto the shaft; the cord looks European, and it is not clear if these loops are original or a later addition to assist hanging the object for display. The shield is nearly complete, with a hole in the lower body; the shaft has cracked badly near the upper end. It has a weight in excess of 1000 grams, with a total length of 1278 mm, a shaft diameter of 28.8 mm at the centre, and a body length of 1095 mm, width of 377 mm and thickness of 6.8 mm [RTS 3/8/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Nuer

Person

Field collector W. Sherlock Lennon

PRM source Kathleen Constance Averina Knowles

PRM source Mrs Cameron

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1918?, uncertain

Date collected

About 1918

Acquisition information

Donated: 1946

Materials and processes

Material Elephant Skin Animal, Material Wood Plant, Material Plant Fibre Yarn, Process Carved, Process Stained, Process Decorated, Process Incised, Process Perforated

Dimensions

Diameter 28.8 mm shaft, Length 1095 mm shield body, Length: max 1278 mm, Depth 6.8 mm, Width 377 mm shield body, Weight 1000 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1946.8.98

Research and responses

Throughout the twentieth century the term ‘White Nile’ has been used to denote an administrative district immediately south of Khartoum. However at the time this object was collected, the term was also used more loselEy to refer to the Bahr el Abiad and Bahr el Jebel rivers, or the areas immediately around them. It is not clear in which sense it is being used here, although association with the Nuer might indicate the Bahr el Abiad river is being referred to rather than the administrative district. This is the only one of Lennon's objects that is given this collection date; the rest were obtained in February 1923, from Lake No.

For a shield of similar design, collected by Evans-Pritchard amongst the Nuer, see 1937.34.43. A similar style of shield is published by Plaschke and Zirngibl with a rather general attribution to Nilotic tribes between the Blue and White Nile (D. Plaschke & M.A. Zirngibl, 1992, African Shields, cat. 30, p. 49).

Search terms: Weapon, Shield