1884.71.11

Collection type

Object

Description

Long, slightly curved ivory hair pin with incised crosshatching just below the head [RTS 26/4/2004].

Long description

Long hair pin carved from a single piece of ivory, consisting of a narrow, slightly convex top and slender body with oval section, tapering to a point at the other end. The body is slightly curved, and has been decorated just below the head with a shallowly incised pattern filled with black pigment; according to Petherick, this colour was derived from a tree root. The design consists of a thick band of cross hatching, framed by two parallel lines above and below; the execution is somewhat irregular. The surface, which is currently a yellowish cream colour (Pantone 7401C), has been polished, and the object is complete and intact. It has a length of 319 mm, measures 5 by 4 mm at the head, and 4 by 3.4 mm midway down the body, with a weight of 6.8 grams [RTS 26/4/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Zande

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector John Petherick

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: On or before 1858

Date collected

?1858

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Animal Ivory Tooth, Process Carved, Process Polished, Process Incised

Dimensions

Length 319 mm, Width 5 mm head, Depth 4 mm head, Weight 6.8 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.71.11

Research and responses

Petherick lived in Khartoum from 1853-1858, mounting several trading expeditions into the Sudanese interior during this period. He entered Zande territory for the first time on 24th February 1858, while on his fifth such expedition, visiting the villages of Mundo, Kangamboo and Baranj. If Zande, this object was probably collected during this trip, as Petherick did not venture into this region again. His collection was shipped back to England in 1859. Petherick most probably put this material up for auction, as some Petherick material in the PRM appears to have lot numbers associated with it; known buyers include Pitt Rivers, Henry Christie, and J.G. Wood. It was not auctioned via Sotheby's, and there is no evidence that it was ever owned by the Royal United Services Institution. It was later displayed in the Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A) [RTS 26/4/2004].

The use of similar pins by the Zande are described in Petherick's 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, p. 466: ‘Both men and women wore their hair plaited in thick masses, covering the neck to the shoulders. This they combed out with long ivory pins, from six inches to upwards of a foot in length - one extremity pointed, the other increasing in thickness like a cone, three or four inches of which were carved into pretty patterns, and dyed black with the decoction of a root. When the hair had been arranged, two of the largest of these pins were stuck horizontally through it at the back of the head; between these smaller ones were inserted, forming a semicircle similar to a Spanish lady’s comb’. Compare with Zande hair pins 1886.1.523.1-3 to see if these are likely to be of the same cultural origin. These pins are also described in J.G. Wood, 1968, The Natural History of Man vol. I, p. 489, while Schweinfurth describes Zande men using hair pins of iron, copper or ivory tipped with various devices to fasten cylindrical straw hats in place (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, The Heart of Africa Volume II, p. 8]. For similar pins, see E. Castelli, 1984, Orazio Antinori in Africa Centrale 1859-1861, cat. no. 98, p 72, attributed to the 'Mangbetu, Zande etc' (Museum of Perugia 49650-7). The practice of wearing these pins was still common in the 1920's (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 32).

Note that this object is not illustrated by Petherick in any of his publications, or in his sketchbook now held in the Wellcome Library MS 5789.

For other pins of this type, see 1884.71.10, 12-13 and 1886.1.523.1-3. This example was identified as ivory, not bone, by conservation [RTS 8/12/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Toilet, Hair Ornament, Toilet Article, Pin