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Pitt Rivers Museum

1886.1.958

Basketry cassava squeezer. [MOBB [OPS move] 7/12/2016]


1886.1.958

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Collection type
Object
Description
Basketry cassava squeezer. [MOBB [OPS move] 7/12/2016]
Long description
Basketry cassava squeezer. Tube of twill woven in dark brown with a loop at either end. One end is closed and has a loop of plaited cane bound together with twisted plant fibre string. The other end is open and has a loop of twill woven material. There is also a loop of twisted string tied to this end. [MOBB [OPS move] 7/12/2016]
Geographical reference
Essequibo River
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1878
Date collected
By 1878
Acquisition information
Transferred: 17/02/1886
Materials and processes
Material Plant Fibre, Material Plant Fibre, Process Woven, Process Basketry, Process Stained, Process Plaited
Dimensions
Height: max 64 mm, Length: max 1539 mm, Width: max 76 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1886.1.958 Other numbers: 173 981
Research and responses

Straining bag of cane work, for freezing cassava/manioc of poisonous juice. A pole is placed in lower loop of suspended bag and a woman sits on it, stretching the bag. The juice from the manioc is squeezed out. When cooked, the manioc is no longer poisonous. The dried flour is used for bread; the boiled juice is put into the pepper pot which preserves meat from day to day. [?LM]

* There is a note in the Ramsden collectors volume stating 'Retrospective numbers written in pencil down left hand column June 1975 E.S.G. Collated with A.M. but considerable problems encountered. All Ramsden seem to be in A.M.' Note that this exercise may have been the source of the confusion that occurred during Elizabeth Sandford Gunn's work on the Ashmolean collection with regard to numbers. In some instances, these numbers SEEM to have been used to number the objects (wrongly). [AP 16/7/99] This object is not mentioned in Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry - Ramsden coll pages 223 - 255 [AP 21/7/99]

Search terms: Food and Drink, Basketry, Cassava Accessory, Sieve, Squeezer, Food Accessory