1937.34.50.2

Collection type

Object

Description

Cloth bag [.2] and 40 clay balls [.3-.42] [RTS 19/17/2004]

Long description

Gaming pieces for a mancala set, consisting of a cloth bag [.2] presumably used to hold a set of 40 clay playing balls [.3-42]. The bag is made from a fragment of machine woven cloth in a simple checkweave, probably cotton; this has been folded to form a small pouch and then knotted at the top; it is currently empty. As the cloth has not been untied, it is not possible to determine the shape of the fragment. Most of the visible edges are fraying; one appears to be a finished edge as it has been folded over and stitched with two rows of stitching in a thread of similar colour to the cloth, a slightly grayish cream (Pantone 7506C). As tied, the bag is 100 mm long and 58.3 mm wide at the base, and has a weight of 6.9 grams. It is accompanied by 40 small hand made roughly spherical balls that were used as gaming pieces. Each has been shaped from gray clay or mud (Pantone 403C), mixed with coarse fragments of yellow straw as a binding agent and probably sundried, rather than fired in a kiln, as the fabric is extremely soft. The balls vary slightly in dimensions; 1937.34.50.3 is a typical example measuring 15.5 by 14.5 by 14 mm and with a weight of 3.2 grams [RTS 19/7/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Nuer

Person

Field collector Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM source Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1936

Date collected

October to November 1936

Acquisition information

Donated: 1937

Materials and processes

Material Clay, Material Straw Fibre Plant, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Reed Plant, Process Handbuilt, Process Modelled, Process Recycled, Process Knotted, Process Stitched

Dimensions

Thick: max 14 mm, Width: max 58.3 mm, Width: max 14.5 mm, Length: max 100 mm, Length: max 15.5 mm, Weight 6.9 g, Weight 3.2 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1937.34.50.2 Accession number: 1937.34.50.3 Accession number: 1937.34.50.4 Accession number: 1937.34.50.5 Accession number: 1937.34.50.6 Accession number: 1937.34.50.7 Accession number: 1937.34.50.8 Accession number: 1937.34.50.9 Accession number: 1937.34.50.10 Accession number: 1937.34.50.11 Accession number: 1937.34.50.12 Accession number: 1937.34.50.13 Accession number: 1937.34.50.14 Accession number: 1937.34.50.15 Accession number: 1937.34.50.16 Accession number: 1937.34.50.17 Accession number: 1937.34.50.18 Accession number: 1937.34.50.19 Accession number: 1937.34.50.20 Accession number: 1937.34.50.21 Accession number: 1937.34.50.22 Accession number: 1937.34.50.23 Accession number: 1937.34.50.24 Accession number: 1937.34.50.25 Accession number: 1937.34.50.26 Accession number: 1937.34.50.27 Accession number: 1937.34.50.28 Accession number: 1937.34.50.29 Accession number: 1937.34.50.30 Accession number: 1937.34.50.31 Accession number: 1937.34.50.32 Accession number: 1937.34.50.33 Accession number: 1937.34.50.34 Accession number: 1937.34.50.35 Accession number: 1937.34.50.36 Accession number: 1937.34.50.37 Accession number: 1937.34.50.38 Accession number: 1937.34.50.39 Accession number: 1937.34.50.40 Accession number: 1937.34.50.41 Accession number: 1937.34.50.42

Research and responses

This object was collected during Evans-Pritchard's last period of fieldwork amongst the Nuer (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer). Mancala is a generic term for this game, not specifically Nuer [RTS 16/1/2004].

Associated publications

This object was featured in the Museum's on-line fact sheet ‘Games’ produced during the DCF-funded 'What's Upstairs?' project, 2004–2006. [BR 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 8/11/2005]

Search terms: Toy and Game, Bag, Board Game, Game Accessory