Tortoise shell bell

Collection type: Object
Description: Tortoise shell bell
Geographical reference: Kenya
Africa > Eastern Africa > Kenya; East of Mount Elgon
Cultural groups: Tiati
Person: Field collector Jean Brown Sassoon; PRM source Jean Brown Sassoon
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1978
Date collected: By 1978
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1978
Materials and processes: Material Tortoise Carapace Reptile, Material Wood Plant, Material Animal Leather Skin, Process Perforated
Dimensions: Length: max 130 mm, Height: max 50 mm, Width: max 75 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1978.20.86 Other numbers: JB201
Research and responses: Used by boys to hang on their name-oxen until they can afford an iron bell. A wooden clapper is attached to the inside of the shell by a leather thong threaded through 2 holes. A looped thong is threaded through a further hole for suspension [HLR 1992.7.28]. Worth noting that the measurements differ between those entered in 1992 and those noted in the accessions register. For full text of Accession Book introduction see entry for 1978.20.1. See also 1978.20.15. For further information on name-oxen (Kiwianghit) see: Jean Brown 'Horn-shaping Ground-stone Axe-hammers' in Azania XXV (1990), pp.57-67 [OD 12/1/2001].