1979.20.192.2

Collection type

Object

Description

Cleaning feather, for flute 1979.20.192.1 [RTS 7/9/2005].

Long description

Cleaning feather for end-blown flute 1979.20.192.1, usually stored inside the body of the instrument. This consists of a bird's feather with pale yellow quill (Pantone 7401C), fitted over a lightweight yellow bone with knob-shaped end that serves as a natural handle (Pantone 7509C). This has soft grayish to dark grayish brown barbs (Pantone 7504C and 7533C); some have broken off near their bases, particularly at the tip of the feather, probably through usage; there is also a section where they have become compressed close to the quill shaft. The remaining barbs below have been bent downwards and inwards, from being forced into the confined space in the body of the flute. The object does not seem to have been modified, and has a weight of 1 gram and a length of 200 mm; the maximum surviving width is 32 mm, while lower part of the quill measures 4.2 by 4.4 mm; the bony knob at its base has a width of 6.5 mm [RTS 7/9/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Eastern Equatoria Loryok

Cultural groups

Southern Laarim

Person

Field collector Jill Goudie

PRM source Patti Langton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 03/1979

Date collected

20 - 25 March 1979

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1979

Materials and processes

Material Bird Feather, Material Bird Bone

Dimensions

Width: max 35 mm, Length: max 200 mm, Weight 1 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1979.20.192.2 Other numbers: ∆47

Research and responses

This feather was found inside 1979.20.192.1, and would have been used to clean it. Cleaning feathers are often found in association with this type of object; for other examples in the collection, see 1940.7.071.2, from the Didinga, and 1979.20.176.2 from the Southern Larim. [RTS 7/9/2005].

Search terms: Tool, Music, Musical Instrument, Flute