- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Slightly curved ivory hair pin, undecorated.
- Long description
- Hair pin carved from a single piece of ivory, consisting of a flattened top, oval in section, and slender body of round to oval section throughout, tapering to a point at the other end. The body is slightly curved, somewhat irregular in shape, and has been polished. The pin is complete but has some minor cracks running down its length; it is currently a light to mid yellowish cream colour (Pantone 7401C-7402C). It has a length of 336 mm, with the head measuring 6 by 5 mm, and the body measuring 5.1 mm at its centre; the pin weighs 12.9 grams [RTS 27/4/2004].
- Geographical reference
- Cultural groups
- Zande
- Date / Period
- Date made: On or before 1858
- Date collected
- 1858
- Acquisition information
- Transferred: 10/02/1886
- Materials and processes
- Material Animal Ivory Tooth, Process Carved, Process Polished
- Dimensions
- Diameter: max 5.1 mm body, Width: max 6 mm head, Length: max 336 mm, Thick: max 5 mm head, Weight 12.9 g
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1886.1.523.2 Other numbers: 523
- Research and responses
Petherick lived in Khartoum from 1853-1858, mounting several trading expeditions into the Sudanese interior during this period. He entered Zande territory for the first time on 24th February 1858, while on his fifth such expedition, visiting the villages of Mundo, Kangamboo and Baranj. This object was probably collected during that trip, as Petherick did not venture into this region again. His collection was shipped back to England in 1859. Petherick most probably put this material up for auction, as some Petherick material in the PRM appears to have lot numbers associated with it; known buyers include Pitt Rivers, Henry Christie, and J.G. Wood. It was not auctioned via Sotheby's, and there is no evidence that it was ever owned by the Royal United Services Institution [RTS 26/4/2004].
The use of these pins are described in Petherick's 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, p. 466: ‘Both men and women wore their hair plaited in thick masses, covering the neck to the shoulders. This they combed out with long ivory pins, from six inches to upwards of a foot in length - one extremity pointed, the other increasing in thickness like a cone, three or four inches of which were carved into pretty patterns, and dyed black with the decoction of a root. When the hair had been arranged, two of the largest of these pins were stuck horizontally through it at the back of the head; between these smaller ones were inserted, forming a semicircle similar to a Spanish lady’s comb’. These pins are also described in J.G. Wood, 1968, The Natural History of Man vol. I, p. 489, while Schweinfurth describes Zande men using hair pins of iron, copper or ivory tipped with various devices to fasten cylindrical straw hats in place (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, The Heart of Africa Volume II, p. 8]. For similar pins, see E. Castelli, 1984, Orazio Antinori in Africa Centrale 1859-1861, cat. no. 98, p 72, attributed to the 'Mangbetu, Zande etc' (Museum of Perugia 49650-7). The practice of wearing these pins was still common in the 1920's (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 32).
This particular example is marked '80', but it is not clear what this number refers to - possibly a number used by one of its previous owners, or a reference to an auction catalogue number (note that some other ivory pins collected by Petherick at the same time may have been part of auction lot number 79, see 1884.71.11-13) [RTS 27/4/2004].
For other pins of this type, see 1884.71.10-13 and 1886.1.523.1, .3. This example was identified as ivory, not bone, by conservation [RTS 8/12/2004].
- Associated publications
- The Accession book entry is published in A. MacGregor et al., 2000, Manuscript Catalogues of the Early Museum Collections 1683-1886 (Part I), p. 297, cat. 523 [RTS 26/1/2004].
Search terms: Ornament, Toilet, Hair Ornament, Toilet Article, Pin