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1927.84.54

Collar of hide and iron wire with beads and cowrie shells and iron chain pendants. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/6/2005]

1927.84.54

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Collection type
Object
Description
Collar of hide and iron wire with beads and cowrie shells and iron chain pendants. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/6/2005]
Long description
Collar of hide and iron wire with beads and cowrie shells and iron chain pendants. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/6/2005] This object is necessary for weddings, when a girl is getting married she is given this by her parents. If a girl marries without this she won’t feel very loved. It is worn during the walk to the husband’s home with the husband and best man. It is worn after marriage on ceremonial occasions. The strip down the front means that the dowry has been paid already, so there is no debt. The dowry tends to be 3 cows and 2 sheep.The object is made by women, but men pay for the materials. It is not necessarily the father who makes it, it can be made by whoever is closest to the girl who the father allows. The wedding day is determined by when this is made. It is not just made of chains, there are beads etc. The label states 'warriors collar' but it is not. [ThW [Living Cultures Project] 17/3/2021]
Cultural groups
Maasai
Person
Field collector William Ernest Taylor
Field collector Church Missionary Society
PRM source Catherine Taylor
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1890
Date collected
1882 - 1890
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1927
Materials and processes
Material Animal Hide Skin, Material Bead, Material Iron Metal, Material Metal Wire, Material Cowrie Shell, Process Stitched, Process Beadwork
Dimensions
Length: max 715 mm including chains, Diameter: max 160 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1927.84.54
Research and responses

'This object is necessary for weddings, when a girl is getting married she is given this by her parents. If a girl marries without this she won’t feel very loved. It is worn during the walk to the husband’s home with the husband and best man. It is worn after marriage on ceremonial occasions. The strip down the front means that the dowry has been paid already, so there is no debt. The dowry tends to be 3 cows and 2 sheep. The object is made by women, but men pay for the materials. It is not necessarily the father who makes it, it can be made by whoever is closest to the girl who the father allows. The wedding day is determined by when this is made. It is not just made of chains, there are beads etc. The label states 'warriors collar' but it is not.' The information used to describe this object has been reviewed through a process of consultation with Maasai representatives and community elders as part of The Maasai Living Cultures Project. Living Cultures started in 2017 and is a partnership between Maasai representatives from Tanzania and Kenya, the Pitt Rivers Museum and InsightShare, an Oxford-based NGO. The project is working to represent the history and narratives behind artefacts held in museum collections. Over the course of three years (2017, 2018, 2020) Maasai delegates have visited the museum to discuss how their culture is represented and how the Museum speaks about Maasai communities in its displays, databases, and education programmes.  [ThW [Living Cultures Project] 16/3/2021]

Search terms: Ornament, Bead, Marriage, Neck Ornament

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