1934.8.46

Collection type

Object

Description

Hide fringe apron, worn by a girl [RTS 16/9/2005].

Long description

Fringe apron, consisting of a narrow belt made from two strips of dark brown hide (Pantone Black 4C). Each strip has been attached at one end to the apron body, and tied in place using hide cord; the loose ends would be used to tie the garment around the waist. This was done by passing one end through a perforation about halfway along the length of the other tie and securing it at that point, leaving the ends to hang down below the waist as a decorative 'tail' or tassel - with the surface of these sections being lightly tooled to create a textured pattern. The apron body consists of either a cord or hide piece running across the upper edge, with some kind of binding wrapped around and used to secure bundles of twisted cord, the long ends of which hang down to form a thick fringe, with each cord knotted at its base and heavily coated with reddish brown material, possibly ochre. The apron is eseentially complete, but the hide is stressed in places, and coated with a fatty bloom. There is a row of four holes at the end of each end of the belt section; it is not clear if these are original or relate to some form of subsequent display. It has a weight of 147.9 grams. The total length of the object is 670 mm; the tie strips are 8 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick, while the fringe body is 165 mm wide and 120 mm long, and each fringe cord has a diameter of 1.2 mm [RTS 16/9/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Bahr el Jebel Ngangala

Cultural groups

Bari (Nilotic)

Person

Field collector Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton

Field collector Hannah Powell-Cotton

PRM source Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1933

Date collected

21st April 1933

Acquisition information

Donated: 1934

Materials and processes

Material Animal Hide Skin, Process Perforated, Process Bound, Process Knotted, Process Tooled, Process Incised

Dimensions

Depth: max 36 mm, Length: max 670 mm, Width: max 165 mm, Weight 147.9 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1934.8.46 Other numbers: 765

Research and responses

Ngangala is located in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebe.

For similar fringe aprons, see 1934.8.45 and 1940.7.09-10, also from the Bari [RTS 16/9/2005].

Search terms: Clothing, Apron, Belt, Groin-cover