1940.7.016.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Circular neck ornament of twisted iron [.1], with a leather strap [.2] decorated with cowrie shells and a brass pendant hung from the base, worn by women [RTS 2/3/2005].

Long description

Neck ornament consisting of an iron torque [.1] with a beaded leather pendant attached [.2]. The torque has been made from a iron rod, round in section, whose body has been twisted to form a spiral, creating a very shallow groove around the length. The ends were hammered flat, and bent back on themselves to form small loops, one of which has not been fully closed, before the rod was bent into a large oval loop with the ends left 48 mm apart. It is a metallic gray colour (Pantone 877C), and complete in itself, with traces of red ochre caught in the grooves and underneath the looped ends. A long leather strap has been attached to this, by bending the top part over the iron body and sewing it down using a hide cord. The strap is rectangular, and tapers slightly to its lower end; it is a dark reddish brown colour (Pantone 4695C). The outer face has been covered with white cowrie shell beads, each with their backs removed and sewn in place using further hide cord, with their lips facing outwards. These have been arranged as a single horizontal shell across the width of the strap, 45 mm from its top edge, then with 2 rows of vertical cowries running down below. The lower edge of the strap has been pierced, and an oval brass loop fitted through it, with its ends just touching. This is used to suspend a crescentic pendant that is tied on with a hide loop. The pendant is made from sheet brass, hammered to shape, with a faint ridge running along the centre of the upper face; it is pierced through the top, while the body tapers to its tips, which point down and almost touch at the base. This is a metallic yellow colour (Pantone 871C); the motif may reflect Arab influence. This part of the necklet is complete, but one cowrie shell has a hole in its body, and the hide surface is cracking in places. The inner face of the strap has traces of red ochre over its surface, which seems to have some mica inclusions (Pantone 478C). The object has a total weight of 170.2 grams and a total length of 406 mm. The iron torque has an external width of 179 mm, and an internal diameter of 165 by 141 mm; the rod from which it has been made is 7 mm wide and 6.3 mm thick. The leather strap is 215 mm long, 26 mm wide and 3.3 mm thick, while the hole through its base has a diameter of 4 mm. The cowrie shells vary slightly in size, with smaller examples near the upper part; a typical example is 20 mm long and 15 mm wide, and the brass pendant is 44 mm long, with a maximum width of 37.3 mm and a thickness of 1 mm [RTS 2/3/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Bahr el Jebel Terakeka

Cultural groups

Bari (Nilotic)

Person

Field collector Samuel Peach Powell

PRM source Samuel Peach Powell

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1940

Date collected

By 1940

Acquisition information

Loaned: 1940

Materials and processes

Material Animal Leather Skin, Material Animal Hide Skin, Material Iron Metal, Material Brass Metal, Material Cowrie Shell, Material Bead, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Twisted, Process Bent, Process Perforated, Process Stitched

Dimensions

Length: max 44 mm pendant, Thick: max 6.3 mm, Length: max 406 mm total, Diameter: max 165 mm torque internal, Diameter: max 4 mm hole, Width: max 179 mm torque external, Width: max 7 mm rod, Width: max 26 mm leather strap, Width: max 15 mm cowrie, Width: max 37.3 mm pendant, Length: max 215 mm leather strap, Length: max 20 mm cowrie, Thick: max 3.3 mm leather strap, Thick: max 1 mm pendant, Weight 170.2 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1940.7.016.1 Accession number: 1940.7.016.2

Research and responses

A province known as 'Equatoria' or 'Al Istiwa'iyah' was in existance from some time in the 1940's to 1981, after which point it was divided into the districts of Eastern and Western Equatoria; in the 1990's these were subdivided further into the modern administrative districts of Western Equatoria, Bahr el Jebel, and Eastern Equatoria. Terakeka is located in Bahr el Jebel.

The torque body was probably probably made in a similar way to Bari leg ornaments - where an iron rod was pulled out and twisted along its length, the ends hammered back and the whole bent into a loop - see 1940.7.20-21 for unfinished examples [RTS 2/3/2005].

Search terms: Ornament, Bead, Neck Ornament, Pendant