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1884.82.42

Small penannular iron arm ornament with lozenge-shaped section [RTS 2/4/2004].

1884.82.42

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Collection type
Object
Description
Small penannular iron arm ornament with lozenge-shaped section [RTS 2/4/2004].
Long description
Penannular arm ornament made from an iron bar with angular, lozenge-shaped section, tapering to each flat-cut end, where the section becomes oval. The bar has been bent into a loop with open ends, 20 mm apart. The surface has been polished, and is currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone 421C). The object is complete and intact, with minor surface flaws. It measures 69 by 60.5 mm across the outside edges, and 51.5 mm across the inside edge, with a maximum thickness of 9.8 mm, a height of 13 mm, and a weight of 68.4 grams. The small diameter suggests that this was probably worn around the wrist [RTS 2/4/2004].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Cultural groups
Bongo
Date / Period
Date made: Possibly before 1858
Date collected
1858
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Iron Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Polished
Dimensions
Length 69 mm, Width 60.5 mm, Thick 9.8 mm, Height 13 mm, Weight 68.4 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.82.42 PR no.: 103/ 1621
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].

In Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, 1861, p. 401, Petherick describes Bongo women as wearing numerous iron bracelets on their wrists. See also J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man Vol. I, p. 499. “On their wrists they wear bracelets, made simply of iron bars cut to the proper length, and bent round the wrist.” [RTS 14/1/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Arm Ornament

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