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1903.16.108.2

Annular armlet carved from elephant toe [RTS 24/3/2004].

1903.16.108.2

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Collection type
Object
Description
Annular armlet carved from elephant toe [RTS 24/3/2004].
Long description
Annular armlet carved in one piece, apparantly from part of an elephant toe. This is flat on the inner face, where it would fit around the arm, flat on both upper and lower surfaces, and then concave on the outer face. It is complete and intact, with a small crack on the underside and inner face, and patches of wear on opposite sides of the outer face, perhaps where it has rubbed against the owner's body. The colour ranges from a light yellow brown (Pantone 465C) to dark brown (Pantone black 7C). The length across the armlet is 71.3 mm, the width across it 69.5 mm; the diameter across the inside edges is 56 mm, with a thickness of 7.6 mm and a height of 16 mm. The armlet weighs 29.7 grams [RTS 24/3/2004].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
[Upper Nile]
Cultural groups
Shilluk
Person
Field collector Donald Gunn
PRM source Donald Gunn
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1903
Date collected
By 1903
Acquisition information
Donated: 1903
Materials and processes
Material Elephant Nail Animal, Material Elephant Bone Animal, Process Carved
Dimensions
Height: max 16 mm, Width: max 69.5 mm, Length: max 71.3 mm, Weight 29.7 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1903.16.108.2
Research and responses

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, the Shilluk are from Sudan, and thus this is assumed to be the correct provenance [CW 15/12/99]. Although the term 'Upper Nile' is now used to refer to a modern administrative district, covering a stretch of the Bahr el Abiad from Geigar to Malakal, and the Sobat River to Nasir, at the time this object was collected the term was used differently. Up until 1981, it was the name of a province that covered the districts now known as Upper Nile, Jonglei, Wahda and part of el Buheyrat. It may also have been used to describe the Bahr el Abiad and/or Bahr el Jebel rivers [RTS -12/11/2003].

Search terms: Ornament, Arm Ornament

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