Shallow, circular winnowing tray made from grass covered in strips of dyed palm, arranged in concentric patterns [RTS 20/9/2005].

Collection type: Object
Description: Shallow, circular winnowing tray made from grass covered in strips of dyed palm, arranged in concentric patterns [RTS 20/9/2005].
Long description: Circular winnowing tray with rounded rim and everted sides that flare down and in to form a shallow interior with flat base. It has been made from bundles of riath grass, bound round with narrow strips of palm, creating a continuous circular coil that is wound round in a spiral, with each loop woven into neighbouring loops by the binding material. The centre of the base is crossed by a number of palm strip stitches, covering the area where the coil begins, while the top edge of the rim has been neatly finished with a herringbone style plaiting. Most of the palm strips have been left a natural yellow colour (Pantone 7508C), but others have been dyed, although the original colours seem to have faded, particularly on the interior; they are currently a dark purple (Pantone 5275C), a greenish gray colour (Pantone 7803C) and reddish brown (Pantone 7531C). These strips create a geometric pattern around the object, made up of alternating blocks of colour. There is a band of greenish gray immediately below the rim, then a series of pendant blocks made of red, then purple rows, with the same pattern reversed below, of blocks then a purple band. There follows a broad band of natural yellow, with blocks of faded green running as broken lines around the centre, then a band of alternating yellow and purple strips running around the base of the tray. Inside this is a further band of purple and greenish gray, with blocks of colour alternating inside, and outside this ring, then a smaller ring in the centre, with 3 purple blocks around its edge. A small suspension loop has been added to the edge of the tray, hreaded through a gap that has been deliberately left in the weave just before the end of the fibre coil. This cord is made from a twisted yellow 2-ply plant fibre and has been made from a single strand, folded in half then with the ends knotted together (Pantone 465C). The tray is complete, but shows sign of wear. It has a weight of 523.5 grams and is 56 mm high, with a rim diameter of 440 mm and a rim thickness of 5.5 mm. The palm fibre strips have a width of around 2 mm each [RTS 20/9/2005].
Geographical reference: South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan; Northern Bahr el Ghazal Wun Rog
Cultural groups: Dinka Tuich
Person: Field collector Patti Langton; PRM source Patti Langton
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1979
Date collected: 17 February 1979
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1979
Materials and processes: Material Grass Fibre Plant, Material Palm Fibre Plant, Process Basketry
Dimensions: Diameter: max 440 mm, Depth 56 mm, Weight 523.5 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1979.20.43 Other numbers: Langton Collection 78
Research and responses: At the time this object was collected, the Bahr el Ghazal province was bordered by the Upper Nile Province to the east and Western Equatoria to the south; this area is now divided into the districts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Warab and El Buheyrat. Wun Rog is located within Northern Bahr el Ghazal. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka, p. 25.
his tray was made of riath, or riet, a type of swamp grass (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 77 and p. 109 under 'basket'), covered in palm strips, known as nyeth. This type of tray is known as ateng. For a similar Dinka winnowing tray, see 1979.20.81, collected at Mayen. This style of work is typical of further North, in the Darfur region, particularly in the use of colour dyes (Jeremy Coote pers. comm. 25/11/2004). For a more local style of winnowing tray, see 1979.20.71-72 [RTS 20/9/2005].
Associated publications: Illustrated in colour as figure a on page 35 of A Shared Struggle: The People & Cultures of South Sudan, edited by Tim McKulka (no place [Juba]: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, 2013). Caption (same page): 'Dinka woven winnowing tray'. [JC 28 2 2014]

Search terms: Basketry, Vessel, Tool, Food and Drink, Agriculture and Horticulture, Tray, Basket, Agricultural Tool, Food Accessory