1884.63.28

Collection type

Object

Description

Lenticular iron knife with punched decoration on one surface, used by women [SM 15/06/2007]

Long description

Iron knife, made in a single piece and consisting of a slightly convex disc handle, oval in plan view, with a short, round sectioned shaft below, hammered flat on two sides just before tapering out to form a lenticular blade with flat underside and slightly convex upper surface, of slightly irregular thickness, thinning to two cutting edges on either side. This blade tapers in again at the other end to form a slightly splayed, blunted point, thickened and hammered flat on either side, with the upper surface flattened and sloping down to the end. The upper surface of the blade is decorated with a series of incised motifs, made up of short straight or oval depressions that were probably created using a pointed metal punch with a hammer or hammerstone. These consist of two straight lines extending out from the handle end, parallel with the outer edge, with a zigzag filling the space between line and edge; on one side, this has degenerated into simple crosshatching. A running zigzag extends from the apex formed by these two lines, down along the centre of the length, where it meets an oxhide-shaped design with flat top and base lines and concave sides, filled with regular roughly parallel rows made up of short lines. The first three rows are curved, but the pattern then beomes less regular and more tightly spaced. A rectangular motif follows, comprising another zigzag that continues to follow the central line of the blade, framed by straight lines on either side, and then a series of rows made of short lines - twenty rows on one side, nineteen on the other, with a straight line framing the design on one side, parallel to the cutting edge of the blade. There was probably a similar line acting as a frame on the other side, but the design is worn on this part of the knife, probably as a result of use. The oxhide-shaped motif filled with incised lines is repeated on the other side of this rectangular panel, then the framed zigzags follow the edges of the blade to the other end, with a single row of short broken lines between them, running along the centre of the blade. Complete and intact; opaque silvery gray surface (approximately Pantone 423C). Total length 237 mm, diameter of handle 12 x 10.7 mm, diameter of shaft 5.5 mm, maximum width of blade 33.6 mm, minimum width of blade just above point 4 mm, maximum thickness of blade 2 mm, thickness at cutting edge 0.2 mm [RTS 15/3/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Bongo

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector John Petherick

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Possibly before 1858

Date collected

1858

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Process Hammered, Process Punched, Process Incised, Process Forged (Metal)

Dimensions

Length 237 mm, Width 33.6 mm, Thick 2 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.63.28

Research and responses

This object is said to have been collected in 1858; in that year Petherick led a trading expedition through Bongo territory, an account of which is given in his 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa; he refers to this group as the Dor. The expedition entered Bongo territory on January 25, 1858, visiting villages called Djau, Kurkur, Maeha, Mura, Umbura, Modocunga, Miha, Nearhe, Gutu, Mungela, Ombelambe and Lungo. Later in February they passed back through the Bongo villages of Djamaga and Lungo again. This material was shipped back to England in 1859 [RTS 20/1/2004].

Similar knives are illustrated in J.G. Wood's, The Natural History of Man, 1868, p. 503 figures 3-4, where they are described as women's knives; these are attributed to the Jur of Sudan. These illustrated examples are almost identical to 1884.24.205 (said to be from Gaboon, West Africa) and 1884.24.206 (said to be from West Africa), and may even be the same pieces, badly drawn. Both knives are of similar style and design to 1884.63.28. Schweinfurth calls this type of knife a tibah, and states that Bongo women use them to peel vegetables and slice up gourds (G. Schweinfurth, 1975, Artes Africanae, pl. IV.7,8; In the Heart of Africa, 1873, p. 281). See also E. Castelli, 1984, Orazio Antinori in Africa Centrale 1859-1861, cat. no. 26-29, pp 49-50, all attributed to the Bongo (Museum of Perugia 49525-8). A further example in the British Museum was collected in 1867; their attribution to the Zande is probably incorrect (Accession number 4460, E. Schildkrout & C.A. Keim, 1990, African Reflections, fig. 5.10) [RTS 2/2/2005].

Associated publications

Illustrated in colour (PRM image PRM000007969) as '65c "Spear point"' on page 399 of The Fateful Journey: The Expedition of Alexine Tinne and Theodor von Heuglin in Sudan (1863–1864) – A Study of their Travel Account and Ethnographic Collections, by Robert Joost Willink (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019). Also listed on page 437: '65c "Spear point"' | Collection Petherick, Inv.nr. 1884.63.28 (registered as: "collected in 1858, Bongo?"), Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford | Materials: iron | Dimensions: L. 23,7 x W. 3,36 cm'' [JC 8 10 2019]

Search terms: Tool, Weapon, Knife