1931.6.1.1

Collection type

Object

Description

Wooden cylindrical roulette with incised lines cut into body, used for decorating pottery [.1] [RTS 18/10/2004]. With a modern impression. [.2]. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 22/11/2004]

Long description

Small roulette for decorating pottery, carved from a single piece of wood and consisting of a cylindrical body with oval section, cut roughly flat at either end. The body has been decorated with 7 horizontal lines, cut parallel to one another and each extending around three quarters of the circumference. This leaves a narrow blank area running down the length on one side. The cutting is somewhat irregular in execution. When impressed into clay, this creates a repeating pattern of dashes arranged in vertical columns. The roulette is complete, with some discoloration on the undecorated area, perhaps where it was originally glued to its mount, and some darker matter adhering in the grooves. The wood is a pale yellow colour (Pantone 7507C). It has a weight of 0.4 grams, is 24 mm long, 6.4 mm wide and 6 mm thick. Each groove is around 1 mm wide [RTS 18/10/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Lango

Person

Field collector T.A.C. Rubie

PRM source T.A.C. Rubie

PRM source Mr Driberg

PRM source Jack Herbert Driberg

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1931

Date collected

By 1931

Acquisition information

Donated: 1931

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Incised, Process Decorated

Dimensions

Width 6.4 mm, Length: max 50 mm, Length 24 mm, Depth 6 mm, Weight 0.4 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1931.6.1.1 Accession number: 1931.6.1.2

Research and responses

Driberg discusses pottery manufacture amongst the Lango: "Pottery is not confined to a manufacturing class, but pots are made by the males of the family as required, the women fetching the clay (dagi) from the riverbeds ... The clay is used unmixed, and the smaller pots are moulded by hand from the lump. In the case of the larger pots the base is moulded and the pot is gradually built up by successive strips of clay. When it is finished the pot is left for three or four days until quite dry, and then thickly wrapped in grass, which is fired from the base upwards. While the pot is still damp a small piece of stick (aked or agor) about one and a half inches long and spirally fretted is rolled over it to impress such patterns as the maker may choose, and the inside of the pot is gently smoothed with a calabash scraper called akwaya." (J.H. Driberg, 1923, The Lango, p. 88).

For other Lango roulettes, see 1931.6.2-4. Other tribes that use roulettes to decorate their pottery include the Dinka Tuich (1979.20.125-6), Moru Misa (1979.20.27-28) and northern Larim (1979.20.149). These are usually made of plaited grass [RTS 2/6/2004].

Search terms: Tool, Pottery, Technique, Potter's Tool