1948.2.158

Collection type

Object

Description

Tall bilobed gourd container with pyroengraved hatched triangles decorating upper part, and a fibre carrying strap [RTS 16/8/2005].

Long description

Gourd vessel consisting of a narrow inturned rim on a tall body with swollen, convex-sided, ovoid upper part, a short concave-sided neck, and then a larger pear-shaped lower body, somewhat irregular in shape, with a convex base, flattened towards its centre. The surface is a orangey brown colour (Pantone 4635C), with a few patches of the original yellow outer skin remaining on the lower part (Pantone 7502C). The upper edge of the rim has been cut so that it slopes down at an angle into the mouth; some vertical gouge marks are visible on the interior walls below, and scorch lines have been burnt erratically across the rim surface. The swollen upper body has been decorated with a series of lines burnt into the surface using a heated tool (Pantone Black 7C). These consist of a single line just below the rim, then 11 rows of horizontally hatched traingles around the circumference, stopping just above the neck. A rectangular strip of plant fibre has been tied around the neck, originally leaving 2 long ends that were knotted together to form a suspension loop; the exterior surface of the strip is orangey brown (Pantone 730C), the interior a paler yellow (Pantone 7508C). This strip has now broken on one side of this loop. Otherwise the flask is complete and intact, with some insect damage, particularly on the interior, and has a weight of 546.5 grams. It is 505 mm high, with a rim diameter of 37 mm, neck diameter of 78 mm and maximum diameter around the lower body of 222 mm; the loop around its neck has a width of 12 mm, while the loop was originally around 230 mm long [RTS 18/8/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Zande

Person

Field collector Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM source Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1930

Date collected

1927 - 1930

Acquisition information

Found unentered: 1948

Materials and processes

Material Gourd Plant, Material Plant Fibre, Process Hollowed, Process Dried, Process Decorated, Process Pyroengraved Pokerwork, Process Tied, Process Knotted

Dimensions

Height 505 mm, Diameter: max 222 mm, Weight 546.5 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1948.2.158

Research and responses

This vessel is said to be for carrying liquids. Larken publishes an image of a similar bilobed gourd, which he says is used as a water bottle; he gives the name for these as ndukuru (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 91 and pl. VIII). For a similar example, see 1930.86.50.

Larken describes the manufacture of Zande gourds as follows: "After cutting, they are soaked in the stream until the interior has rotted, when it is picked out through a small hole with a stick. New gourds are of an alabaster colour, but age and use soon turn them yellow. Divided in half, they form bowls for water or seed; left in their natural shape they are used as water bottles... the hole through which the gourd has been cleaned if often stoppered with a piece of gourd shell, fitting perfectly, having a string through its centre by which it may be extracted." (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 131) [RTS 1982005].

This shape, with its constricted neck, makes the vessel easier to carry and transport; Jeremy Coote has suggested that the gourd plant was deliberately trained into this form. [JC 9/9/2005].

Search terms: Vessel