Roulette for decorating pottery, made of four sticks bound with twisted grass cord.

Collection type: Object
Description: Roulette for decorating pottery, made of four sticks bound with twisted grass cord.
Long description: Roulette for decorating pottery, made from four thin sticks, roughly cut at either end, and bound together to form a roughly square sectioned object by a long piece of twisted grass fibre cord, that has been wound in and around each stick, forming a rough patterned surface suitable for impressing a design into clay, before being coiled around each end and then tucked under the coils to secure it. Each end of the cord has a small knot tied in it to prevent the cord unwinding. The roulette is complete and in good condition, with the occasional fibre hanging loose; the wood is a pale yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7508C) and the cord a slightly lighter tone (Pantone 7501C). It has a length of 183 mm, a width of 8 mm and a thickness of 7.8 mm, while each stick is around 1.5 mm square, the cord has a diameter of 1 to 2 mm, and the object as a whole weighs 3.9 grams [RTS 1/6/2004].
Geographical reference: South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan; Western Equatoria Lui Lanyi
Cultural groups: Moru Misa
Person: Field collector Patti Langton; PRM source Patti Langton
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1979
Date collected: Between 27 January and 5 February 1979
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1979
Materials and processes: Material Wood Plant, Material Grass Fibre Plant, Process Twisted, Process Wound, Process Tied
Dimensions: Length 183 mm, Width 8 mm, Depth 7.8 mm, Weight 3.9 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1979.20.27 Other numbers: Langton Collection 305A
Research and responses: The place and date of collection is not noted, but judging by other objects with this information, the expedition was collecting Moru material from Lui and Lanyi between 27/1/1979 and 5/2/1979.
For a photograph showing a Moru potter using a roulette to apply decoration to a pottery vessel, see Barley, N., 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 36 top (photograph by John Mack). The collection contains a range of Sudanese grass roulettes, including plaited grass strips (1979.20.28, Moru Misa and 1979.20.149, Northern Larim), and twisted and plaited grass cord (1979.20.125-6, Dinka Tuich) [RTS 1/6/2004].
Associated publications: Referred to on pages 76 (English) and 77 (French) of 'Modern Roulettes in Sub-Saharan Africa / Roulettes modernes d'Afrique sub-saharienne', by Alexandre Livingstone Smith et al., in African Pottery Roulettes Past and Present: Techniques, Identification and Distribution, edited by A. Haour et al. (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2010), pp. 36-114. Referred to as evidence of the spatial distribution of the category of roulettes consisting of 'roulettes of multiple independent cores'. [JC 19 11 2010]

Search terms: Tool, Pottery, Potter's Tool