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1979.20.165

Long narrow gourd with hooked top, used for storing ostrich feathers and decorated with sgraffito ostrich design [RTS 16/8/2005]

1979.20.165

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Collection type
Object
Description
Long narrow gourd with hooked top, used for storing ostrich feathers and decorated with sgraffito ostrich design [RTS 16/8/2005]
Long description
Container made from a long gourd with a narrow cylindrical body, naturally bent into a hook shape at the top that could be used to hang the vessel up inside the hut. Below this, the body gradually straightens out and expands towards its lower part, before tapering in to a pointed base. A small oval opening has been cut into the upper part of the vessel, and the interior pulp removed to make a hollow container that was used to store ostrich dance feathers, along with oil to keep the insects away. The surface skin is a yellow colour (Pantone 7510C); this has been partially scratched away on the inside face of the body to expose the darker orange of the surface beneath (Pantone 7511C), in the shape of an ostrich with long neck, plump body and clawed feet, using a technique known as sgraffito. There are also 2 pairs of roughly parallel lines scratched on either side of the vessel mouth, possibly a further attempt at decoration. The vessel is complete and intact, with minor scratches over the surface; it has a weight of 60.4 grams and is 370 mm long, with a top diameter of 16.5 by 16.3 mm, a mouth diameter of 20 by 16 mm, and a maximum body diameter of 54 by 53.8 mm [RTS 16/8/2005].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Eastern Equatoria Loryok
Cultural groups
Southern Laarim
Person
Field collector Jill Goudie
PRM source Patti Langton
Date / Period
Date made: Before 03/1979
Date collected
20 - 25 March 1979
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1979
Materials and processes
Material Gourd Plant, Process Hollowed, Process Dried, Process Decorated, Process Sgraffito
Dimensions
Length: max 370 mm, Diameter: max 54 mm, Diameter: max 20 mm mouth, Weight 60.4 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1979.20.165 Other numbers: ∆4
Research and responses

The Larim also made use of the sgraffito technique for decorating gourd bowls; see 1979.20.166 (an oil container) and 1979.20.170 (an eating bowl) [RTS 16/8/2005].

Search terms: Vessel, Furniture Dwelling, House-ornament

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