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Pitt Rivers Museum

1904.34.49

Flywhisk of dark hair with leather covered wooden handle and leather loop. A copper alloy ring is around the top of the handle. [MJD 10/08/2009]


1904.34.49

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Flywhisk of dark hair with leather covered wooden handle and leather loop. A copper alloy ring is around the top of the handle. [MJD 10/08/2009]
Long description
Flywhisk of dark hair with leather covered wooden handle and leather loop. A copper alloy ring is around the top of the handle. [MJD 10/08/2009] Eland, wildebeest and giraffe hair is used in flywhisks such as this. Still being used today in most of the ceremonies. [ThW [Living Cultures Project] 17/3/2021]
Cultural groups
Maasai
Person
Field collector Alfred Claud Hollis
PRM source Alfred Claud Hollis
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1895
Date collected
1895
Acquisition information
Donated: 12/1904 Found unentered: 10/08/2009
Materials and processes
Material Animal Leather Skin, Material Animal Hair, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Material Wood Plant, Process Bound, Process Stitched, Process Carved
Dimensions
Width: max 130 mm, Length: max 660 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1904.34.49
Research and responses

'Eland, wildebeest and giraffe hair is used in flywhisks such as this. Still being used today in most of the ceremonies.' The information used to describe this object has been reviewed through a process of consultation with Maasai representatives and community elders as part of The Maasai Living Cultures Project. Living Cultures started in 2017 and is a partnership between Maasai representatives from Tanzania and Kenya, the Pitt Rivers Museum and InsightShare, an Oxford-based NGO. The project is working to represent the history and narratives behind artefacts held in museum collections. Over the course of three years (2017, 2018, 2020) Maasai delegates have visited the museum to discuss how their culture is represented and how the Museum speaks about Maasai communities in its displays, databases, and education programmes.  [ThW [Living Cultures Project] 16/3/2021]

Search terms: Fan, Flywhisk