2005.40.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Hollow basketry cylinder with long leather straps, covered with cowrie shells and with small bell attached [RTS 26/7/2005]

Long description

Hollow basketry cylinder with long leather straps, covered with cowrie shells and with small bell attached. Ornament for decorating a favourite ox, consisting of a basketry cylinder fitted with long straps. The body has been built out of a series of fibre coils woven together with narrow strips of a yellow palm fibre or grass (Pantone 7508C), forming a long cylinder. This has been left open at both ends, one of which is slightly smaller than the other, and both openings covered with an edging of red dyed leather, sewn along their lower edges using red leather thongs (Pantone 4695C). The outer face was then covered with rows of cowrie shell beads. The back of each shell has been perforated with a large hole, and they have been laid end to end, with their lips facing outwards, and sewn onto the basketry body using narrow strips of brown leather (Pantone 7533C). These have been arranged as 3 horizontal rows at the top and bottom of the cylinder, with a series of vertical rows filling the space between. Three short suspension loops have been added along one long side of the cylinder, made from hide strips bound round with red leather thongs and sewn through the basketry wall. On the opposite side of the object, two long straps have also been sewn in place, fastening over the smaller end. These are decorated on their upper surface by 3 rows of cowrie shell beads, matching the beading on the body. The placement of these beads suggests the straps were meant to extend downwards from the place where they have been attached - otherwise the shells would not be visible. The straps have flat-cut ends, each pierced with two holes. One of these has a brass bell attached by some leather strips (Pantone 871C). This has probably been cast, and has an elongated loop at the top, made in one piece with the bell body, which is conical and flares out to an oval bell mouth; the lip of the mouth and top of the bell are both delineated by slight collars and it is dented in one side. It is not clear if this bell was designed to have a clapper; none is now present. There are some broken thongs in the adjacent hole, and also in one of the holes on the other strap end, suggesting that there may once have been additional ornaments or bells in place. The object is nearly complete; in addition to the missing bells, there is a single cowrie shell missing from one of the long straps, and a second shell missing from the edge of the larger opening. It has a weight in excess of 1000 grams. The cylinder is 380 mm long, with end diameters of 97 by 94 and 89 by 87.5 mm respectively; the cowrie shell beads vary in size, but a typical example is 17 mm long and 12 mm wide. The straps are 1320 mm and 1340 mm long, with a width of 35 mm and thickness of 13 mm, including the shells, or 4 mm for the leather by itself, while the bell is 51 mm long, with a mouth diameter of 45 by 37 mm; the small suspension loops are around 30 mm long [RTS 29/9/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Ethiopia

Africa > Eastern Africa > Ethiopia

Cultural groups

Gaawar Nuer

Lak Nuer

Thiang Nuer

Baggara

Person

Field collector Percy Coriat

PRM source Douglas H. Johnson

Date / Period

Date made: On or before 1922

Date collected

circa 1922

Acquisition information

Donated: 04/03/2005

Materials and processes

Material Animal Leather Skin, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Material Brass Metal, Material Cowrie Shell, Material Plant Fibre, Material Palm Fibre Plant, Material Grass Fibre Plant, Process Basketry, Process Stitched, Process Cast, Process Bound, Process Wound, Process Dyed

Dimensions

Diameter: max 97 mm container, Diameter: max 45 mm bell mouth, Height: max 380 mm container, Height: max 51 mm bell, Length: max 1340 mm each strap, Weight 1000 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 2005.40.1

Research and responses

This object has similarities to 1966.1.736, which is a leather strap with 5 rows of cowrie shells stitched to the outside face. It is wider than the Coriat object, but the style and technique of manufacture is very similar; it is said to be from the Badadiri tribe in North Eastern Bageshu in Uganda; see also 1940.7.0292, a breast ornament incorporating cowrie-covered straps. This object was probably for decorating a favourite ox, rather than bull [RTS 26/7/2005/ JC 29/9/2005].

Associated publications

Illustrated in colour as figure e on page 45 of A Shared Struggle: The People & Cultures of South Sudan, edited by Tim McKulka (no place [Juba]: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, 2013). Caption (same page): 'Nuer cattle ornament with cowrie shells'. [JC 28 2 2014]

Search terms: Animal Gear, Ornament, Music, Cattle Accessory, Bell, Gong