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1897.86.25.1

One of a pair of rattles, dance ornaments made of springbuck ears. For other rattle see 1897.86.25.2.

1897.86.25.1

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
One of a pair of rattles, dance ornaments made of springbuck ears. For other rattle see 1897.86.25.2.
Long description
Pair of rattles, dance ornaments worn on ankles in dancing. Each rattle consists of four ears of the springbuck folded over and stitched along the edges so as to enclose a cavity which is loosely filled with chips of ostrich eggshell, which rattle when shaken. The four leather rattles thus formed are sewn onto two hide thongs. [MJD 03/01/2014]
Cultural groups
Khoe-San
Date
Date collected
?1810 - 1815
Acquisition information
Transferred: 1897
Materials and processes
Material Animal Part, Material Antelope Skin Animal, Material Ostrich Eggshell Bird, Process Stitched
Dimensions
Width: max 80 mm, Length: max 110 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1897.86.25.1
Research and responses

Other items collected by WJ Burchell were given to the Ashmolean Museum by Burchell's sister, Miss Burchell, 1865 and later transferred to the PRM in 1886. [AP 31/8/99]

Brandon Andrews, PhD student at the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town (South Africa), shared that these musical instruments are known as /keriten and are ankle shakers used in ritual and social dance contexts. A similar instrument is held in the Kirby Collection of Musical Instruments at UCT. It has the accession number KK78 and be seen in the online catalogue here: https://ibali.uct.ac.za/s/pkmi/item/11350.

Associated publications
This type of rattle is illustrated on page 45 and described on page 65 in 'Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa', by William John Burchell, 1824, Vol. II. [MJD 06/01/2014] Illustrated in black and white as Figure 2 and discussed in detail on page 4 of '[Department Review] Foraging for Southern African Hunter-Gatherers in the Pitt Rivers Museum: Existence and Potential', by John Hobart and Peter Mitchell, in Before Farming, 2004/3, article 5. (Printout in RDF: Researchers: Hobart.) [JC 11 12 2019]

Search terms: Dance, Music, Ornament, Dance Accessory, Musical Instrument, Leg Ornament, Rattle

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