1940.7.095

Collection type

Object

Description

Apron with a fringe of narrow leather strips sewn onto a narrow waist band with 2 leather ties decorated with iron beads, worn by women [RTS 9/3/2005].

Long description

Apron or groin cover consisting of a series of narrow dark brown leather strips (Pantone black 4C), grouped into small bundles doubled over at the top, placed in a row and sewn together near the top with plant fibre thread to form a continuous band, with their long ends hanging down to as a thick fringe. A further leather strip was then overstitched along the width of the sewn area to form a neat lower edge to the waist band. This band is heavily coated with red ochre on the inner face (Pantone 477C), and is somewhat greasy and accreted on the other surface. A narrow leather strip has been sewn onto either side of this band to form waist ties, also using a plant fibre thread, probably made from grass. They have been tooled across both surfaces, to give it them textured appearance, and are also heavily coated with red ochre. One of these ties is twice as long as the other; both have been perforated twice at their attached ends, and once at their free ends, which have a length of plant fibre cord attached that has been strung with a series of iron ring-shaped beads with convex sides, each ending in a single fibre knot at the base. There are 47 beads on the shorter tie, and 50 beads on the longer one. The iron has corroded, and only shows its characteristic metallic gray colour in places (Pantone 420C). The apron is complete, and has a weight of 366.3 grams. Its length, with the ties extended, is 1725 mm; the ties are 10 mm wide and 2 mm thick, while the iron beads have a diameter of 5.8 mm and are 3 mm long. The fringed part of the apron is 180 mm wide across the top and 320 mm long; the waist band is 11 mm wide, while the fringe strips are 2.2 to 3.8 mm wide and 1 to 2 mm thick [RTS 9/3/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Uganda

Africa > Eastern Africa > Uganda

[Equatoria] Eastern Equatoria [Jebel] Imatong Agoro

Cultural groups

Acholi

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 Grass Fibre Plant, Material Iron Metal, Material Bead, Material Ochre, Process Tooled, Process Perforated, Process Stitched, Process Strung, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Bent

Dimensions

Length: max 1725 mm including ties, Width 180 mm fringe, Length 320 mm fringe, Weight 366.3 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1940.7.095

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. Jebel Imatong is a mountain peak in Southeastern Sudan, in Eastern Equatoria, south of Torit. It is not completely clear which 'Agoro' is the town referred to by Powell; there is an Agoro in Eastern Equatoria, but another town of this name just inside the Uganda border as well, and both could be seen as part of the Imatong area [RTS 10/11/2003].

Search terms: Clothing, Ornament, Bead, Apron, Waist Ornament, Groin-cover, Skirt