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Pitt Rivers Museum

1927.84.79

Ivory ear ornament incised with decoration and grooved for wearing in the ear lobe.

On display


1927.84.79

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Ivory ear ornament incised with decoration and grooved for wearing in the ear lobe.
Long description
Ivory ear ornament incised with decoration and grooved for wearing in the ear lobe. These are typically Maasai and worn by men and women. [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 Elephant Tooth Ivory Animal, Process Grooved, Process Incised
Dimensions
Length x Width 137 x 28 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1927.84.79 Erroneous Accession Number: 2001.71.1
Research and responses

'These are typically Maasai and worn by men and women.' 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] 17/3/2021]

Search terms: Ornament, Ear Ornament