1946.6.83.55

Collection type

Object

Description

Leaf, used for divination ceremonies. For the associated wooden folder and leaves see records 1946.6.83 .1 - .160 [ASh [OPS move] 27/3/2017]

Long description

Leaf, used for divination ceremonies. The leaf is incised with the cut out decoration of two triangles near to the tip with a pattern of a single triangle, a vertical line and a crescent shape above them. For the associated wooden folder and leaves see records 1946.6.83 .1 - .160. [ASh [OPS move] 27/3/2017]

Geographical reference

Cameroon

Africa > Central Africa > Cameroon

Bamenda

Cultural groups

Wiya

Luiya

Person

Field collector Mervyn David Waldegrave Jeffreys

PRM source Mervyn David Waldegrave Jeffreys

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1946

Date collected

By 1946

Acquisition information

Donated: 1946

Materials and processes

Material Plant Leaf, Process Incised, Process Openwork

Dimensions

Depth: max 1 mm, Width: max 60 mm, Length: max 73 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1946.6.83.55 Other numbers: 56

Research and responses

Additional references provided by David Zeitlyn: Gufler, H. 1999. Witchcraft Beliefs among the Yamba (Cameroon). Anthropos 94, 181-98; Gufler, H. 1996. Yamba Spider Divination. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford (JASO) 26, 43-67. [AP 24/9/2001]

Ambatch is a type of leguminous shrub found through many parts of Africa, including the Sudan; it to between 4 and 6 metres high and grows in river shallows, producing a very light, spongy wood that was often used for rafts and parry shields. Its botanical name is Aeschynomene sp. [source: http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B1AB.HTM; RTS 10/1/2005].

Search terms: Specimen, Divination Religion, Plant, Divination Accessory