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1934.8.74

Large ivory pendant amulet, pierced near top, with a narrow body tapering to a ridged point at the other end [RTS 13/8/2004].

1934.8.74

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Collection type
Object
Description
Large ivory pendant amulet, pierced near top, with a narrow body tapering to a ridged point at the other end [RTS 13/8/2004].
Long description
Pendant carved from a single piece of yellowish brown ivory (Pantone 7509C) and consisting of a slightly convex top on a narrow body with the sides flaring out to a carination point around 30 mm below, then tapering in to a point at the other end with a very narrow flattened tip. The lower part of the body has had 6 parallel grooves cut around the circumference, creating a series of decorative ridges. The rest of the surface is smooth and polished, with some carving marks still visible. The pendant is oval in section throughout, and has been pierced near the top with a large hole that has been bored from both sides, creating an hourglass-shaped perforation. It is complete and intact, with some small cracks running down the body and traces of red ochre in some of the decorative grooves; the surface is slightly discoloured. It has a weight of 69.9 grams, is 150 mm long, 27 mm wide and 24 mm thick at the carination, while the hole has a diameter of 10 mm [RTS 13/8/2004].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Eastern Equatoria Loronyo
Cultural groups
Lotuko
Otuho
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1933
Date collected
17th April 1933
Acquisition information
Donated: 1934
Materials and processes
Material Animal Ivory Tooth, Process Carved, Process Perforated, Process Polished, Process Decorated
Dimensions
Depth 24 mm, Width 27 mm, Length 150 mm, Weight 69.9 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1934.8.74 Other numbers: 676
Research and responses

According to “African ethnonyms: index to art-producing peoples of Africa” by Daniel P. Biebuyck, Susan Kelliher and Linda McRae (G.K. Hall & Co.: New York, 1996), the Latuka should be known as Lotuko [CW 23/3/2000]. Lotuko appears to be an alternative name for the Otuho, while the modern spelling of Laronyo is Loronyo.

Powell-Cotton made ethnographic films during his 1932-3 shooting expedition to southern Sudan; footage included a Lotuko blacksmith and his forge and a female Lotuko potter at work (see the description in Mrs Powell Cotton, "Village Handicrafts in the Sudan", Man 34 (112), pp 90-91).

For a strung example of this kind of amulet, see 12934.8.75, and for a smaller version see 1934.8.73, also attributed to the Lotuko [RTS 24/8/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Religion, Amulet, Pendant

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