1998.9.14.4

Collection type

Object

Description

Circular crocheted doily with star and shell design in cream coloured wool, used on tables or over the backs of chairs [RTS 17/2/2005].

Long description

Circular doily crocheted from a pale cream-coloured 4-ply wool (Pantone 461C), and consisting of a central hole with a tightly crocheted 6-pointed star pattern around it, then 6 looser scallop shell motifs set into the spaces between each point, leaving almost triangular gaps at their base and creating a scalloped outside edge. The object is complete, and generally well made, although some of the wool making up the scalloped sections is quite loose and the constituent strands can be distinguished. The colour has not faded, and there are no surface stains, suggesting the object may not have been used. It has a weight of 23.8 grams, and a diameter of 310 mm; the central star measures 225 mm across its maximum length, while the central hole has a diameter of 7 mm [RTS 17/2/2005].

Geographical reference

Uganda

Africa > Eastern Africa > Uganda

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Acholi

Person

Maker Members of the Pentecostal Church women's group

Field collector Tania Kaiser

PRM source Tania Kaiser

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1997

Date collected

1997

Acquisition information

Purchased: 19/01/1998

Materials and processes

Material Wool Textile Animal, Process Crocheted

Dimensions

Diameter: max 310 mm, Length: max 225 mm central star, Weight 23.8 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1998.9.14.4 Other numbers: Kaiser no. 15 Other numbers: PRM invoice item 14 (see RDF)

Research and responses

This object is one of a collection made by Tania Kaiser, a D.Phil. student of Linacre College, during her fieldwork in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement. She conducted fieldwork in the camp from October 1996 to March 1997, and between June and November 1997. The population of the camp had originally come from Parajok in the Torit district of Southern Sudan, and was a mix of Acholi from that area and previously displaced Sudanese refugees (For details of her work, see: T. Kaiser, 1999, Living in Limbo: Insecurity and the Settlement of Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda (Unpublished PhD); T. Kaiser, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, 44-47; T. Kaiser, 2000, UNHCR's Withdrawal from Kiryandongo: Anatomy of a Handover, New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No. 32, 1, 3) [RTS 18/7/2005].

Search terms: Furniture Dwelling, Ornament, Textile, Table-mat, House-ornament