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1884.84.91

Undecorated cylindrical wooden lip stud with conical top and concave sides, worn by women in their lower lip [RTS 11/5/2004].

1884.84.91

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Collection type
Object
Description
Undecorated cylindrical wooden lip stud with conical top and concave sides, worn by women in their lower lip [RTS 11/5/2004].
Long description
Small lip stud carved from a single piece of wood, consisting of a conical top with rounded apex on a cylindrical body with slightly concave sides and an incised line cut around the centre; this only extends around two thirds of the circumference. The base is flat and slightly oval in plan view. The stud is complete and intact, with tool marks visible on several surfaces and traces of surface polish, especially on the upper and lower surfaces. These polished surfaces have a dark reddish brown colour (Pantone 476C). The object has a length of 17.3 mm, a width of 17 mm and a height of 15 mm; it weighs 2.8 grams [RTS 11/5/2004].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Cultural groups
Bongo
Date / Period
Date made: Possibly before 1858
Date collected
1856 - 1858
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Polished
Dimensions
Length 17.3 mm, Width 17 mm, Height 15 mm, Weight 2.8 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.84.91
Research and responses

John Petherick led three separate trading expeditions that passed through Bongo territory between 1856 and 1858; this material was shipped back to England in 1859. See Petherick 1861, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa for more details.

Bongo lip ornaments are described by Petherick in his 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, p. 401 ‘the women would be handsome were it not for a disfiguration of the under lip, in which circular pieces of wood are inserted, varying in size according to age from a sixpence to a florin'. See also G. Schweinfurth's description, In The Heart of Africa Volume I, 1873, pp 296-298. By the time that Evans-Pritchard encountered the Bongo, in the 1920's, the use of large pegs in the lower lips seemed to have gone out of fashion, although they were reportedly still used by the Löli Jurs and the Dogodjo tribe (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1929, "The Bongo", Sudan Notes and Records XII part I, p. 10.

This is very similar in form to 1884.84.87 (with decorated top), and 1884.88.88-90, 92 (undecorated examples) [RTS 11/5/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Lip Ornament, Body Art Accessory

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