1884.140.261

Collection type

Object

Description

Ornament or amulet consisting of a strip of iron which has been rolled into two cones with a suspension loop between [RTS 24/8/2004].

Long description

Small ornament made from a single narrow rectangular strip of iron, hammered into shape. This strip has been bent to form a u-shaped loop at the centre, with each end then wound into a spiral that runs clockwise to the left of the loop and anticlockwise to its right. These spirals gradually rise to their centres, forming two cones with hollow undersides. The upper edge of the strip was decorated with a series of incised depressions punched into the surface and running along its entire length; the underside was left plain. The iron is currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone 421C), with traces of red ochre around the spirals (Pantone 483C). It has a weight of 28.3 grams, is 42.8 mm long and 21.4 mm wide, with a height of 17.4 mm. The strip itself is 7 mm wide and 0.5 to 1 mm thick; each cone has a base diameter of 21 mm [RTS 24/8/2004].

Geographical reference

Congo, Democratic Republic of

Africa > Central Africa > Congo, Democratic Republic of

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Zande

Jur

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1884

Date collected

?Prior to 1884

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884 Found unentered: Found unentered

Materials and processes

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

Dimensions

Depth 17.4 mm, Width 21.4 mm, Length 42.8 mm, Weight 28.3 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.140.261 PR Cat other PR nos: 1539

Research and responses

This is the object illustrated by J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man Volume I, p. 502 (top right), and discussed on p. 503; however he attributes it to the Jur (a term which he uses generically for several south Sudanese groups); he states such ornaments are either worn by Jur or sold to the Dinka and other neighbouring tribes for food. Wood does not give the source of this object, but it may have originated with Petherick as did much of the other Zande material he illustrates. Note that he does not suggest it had an amuletic function; this information must have come either from the collector or whoever originally accessioned the object. A somewhat similar ornament is illustrated by Boccassino, and attributed to the Acholi; here the spirals appear to be flat, rather than worked into cones (R. Boccassino, 1964, "Contributo allo studio dell'ergologia delle popolazioni nilotiche e nilo-camitiche, parte quarto", fig. 32). Spirals also appear as decorative elements on other Zande objects, including 1934.8.144, a brass hair pin with spiral top, and 1884.87.25, an apron which has an iron spiral as a decorative attachment [RTS 2/9/2004].

Associated publications

J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man Volume I, p. 502 (top right), discussed on p. 503 (but attributed to the Jur). [AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998]

Search terms: Ornament, Religion, Amulet