1930.86.13

Collection type

Object

Description

Knife with two edged blade and flared wooden handle [SM 15/06/2007]

Long description

Knife with carved wooden handle, consisting of an irregular, slightly convex end, oval in plan view, flaring in to the body of the handle, which is slightly oval in section. This flares out again at the junction with the blade to form a slight hand guard, flattened at either side and curved on its upper and lower faces. This is cut flat on the end, with a slot cut into it to receive the blade tang; this slot has been widened at the centre on one side to accommodate the thicker midrib of the blade, leaving a gap between blade and handle. The other end of this tang, which is rectangular in section, can be seen projecting from the handle end, where it has been bent over and hammered back into the wood to fix it in place; this has caused the wood to split at this point. The blade is made of silvery gray coloured iron (Pantone 422C), with a narrow, leaf-shaped form with rounded shoulders, the maximum width lying approximately one third the way along its length from the handle. This is thickened down the centre of the length on either side, thinning out towards each of the two cutting edges, giving the blade a flattened, lozenge-shaped section. There are some minor nicks along the edge on one side, and more significant damage along the opposite edge that has caused the metal to curl over at one point; these probably indicate use wear. The blade tapers in to a slightly rounded point at the other end. Hammering marks are visible on both surfaces of the blade. Tool marks are also evident on the handle, which is slightly glossy and may have been stained a mid brown (Pantone 463C). Total length of object 219 mm, length of handle (excluding projecting tang) 71.7 mm, length of visible blade (to hilt) 146 mm; width of handle end 31.5 x 29 mm, width handle body 18.7 x 18.3 mm, width of handle guard 30 mm, thickness of guard 14.7 mm; maximum width of blade 32 mm, maximum thickness of blade 2.3 mm, thickness of blade edge 0.1 mm [RTS 17/2/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Northern Bahr el Ghazal Western Bahr el Ghazal Warab Lakes Western Equatoria

Cultural groups

Rumbek Jur

Person

Field collector Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM source Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1930

Date collected

By 1930

Acquisition information

Purchased: 31/12/1930

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Material Wood Plant, Process Hammered, Process Carved, Process Stained, Process Forged (Metal)

Dimensions

Width: max 32 mm blade, Length: max 219 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1930.86.13

Research and responses

RDF 1930.86 contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attitudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time. The file also contains an undated list of 48 objects, which does not seem to match accessioned material and could be the list of rejected items that Balfour mentions in his letter [RTS 17/5/2004].

It is assumed here that 'Bahr el Ghazal' refers to the province, rather than to the river. At the time this object was collected, the Bahr el Ghazal province was much larger than it is today, extending from roughly the Bahr el Arab all the way to the border with the Belgian Congo; this area is now divided into the districts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Warab, El Buheyrat and Western Equatoria.

The group this object belonged to are probably Rumbek Jur (Beli, Sofi, Gberi, Mittu, Lori) [RTS 16/1/2004 after comment from CM/JC].

For the other two dagger knives mentioned in the accession book, see 1930.86.11 and 1930.86.13 [RTS 9/2/2004].

Search terms: Tool, Weapon, Knife, Dagger