Dinka arm ornament
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1917.25.84
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Dinka
Date Made:
By 1917
Materials:
Animal Hoof
Process:
Carved , Polished
Dimensions:
L = 84.7 mm, W = 83.6 mm, Th = 4.7 mm [RTS 25/3/2004].
Weight:
22.0 g
Other Owners:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably collected in the period immediately before World War I (1909-1914) [RTS 1/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
PRM Source:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
Acquired:
Donated 1917
Collected Date:
By 1917
Description:
Annular armlet carved in one piece from an elephant's hoof.
It is roughly circular, with a flat inner face then a slightly convex, partially undulating upper surface that slopes down to a sharp outer edge.
This gives the object a triangular section across its width.
The material is a semi translucent grayish brown (Pantone warm gray 11C).
The upper surface and outer part of the lower surface is polished, with tool marks visible on the underside.
The inner face is particularly smooth, where the object would have fitted around the owner's arm, and this may be the result of use wear.
The object is essentially complete, with some minor chipping around the outer edges.
The length across the armlet is 84.7 mm, the width across it is 83.6 mm, and across the inside edges it measures 52.6 by 48.8 mm.
The thickness is 4.7 mm and it weighs 22 grams.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region. Throughout the twentieth century the term ‘White Nile’ has been used to denote an administrative district immediately south of Khartoum. However at the time this object was collected the term was also used more loosely to refer to the Bahr el Abiad and Bahr el Jebel rivers, or the areas immediately around them, and association with the Dinka suggests this is probably the case here.
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the period immediately before World War I, somewhere in the ‘White Nile’ region. Throughout the twentieth century the term ‘White Nile’ has been used to denote an administrative district immediately south of Khartoum. However at the time this object was collected the term was also used more loosely to refer to the Bahr el Abiad and Bahr el Jebel rivers, or the areas immediately around them, and association with the Dinka suggests this is probably the case here.
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 17/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[VI, p.
54] - 1917 [pencil insert] 25 [end insert]
MAJOR R.G.
GAYER-ANDERSON
, R.A.M.C.
The Lodge, Old Marston, Oxon [pencil insert, p.
56] 84 [end insert] - Armlet of elephant hoof, Dinka.
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.84 No given AP [red biro] A20 F10 3.
Card Catalogue Entry - [insert] A20 F10 3 [end insert]. ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN, WHITE NILE, DINKA. Armlet of elephant hoof. d.d. Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, 1917 [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Written on object - DINKA armlet, WHITE NILE. d.d. Major Gayer-Anderson 1917 [RTS 25/3/2004].
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O. [page opposite 56] 1917.25.84 No given AP [red biro] A20 F10 3.
Card Catalogue Entry - [insert] A20 F10 3 [end insert]. ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN, WHITE NILE, DINKA. Armlet of elephant hoof. d.d. Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, 1917 [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Written on object - DINKA armlet, WHITE NILE. d.d. Major Gayer-Anderson 1917 [RTS 25/3/2004].
Display History:
Current display label - Because this object was marked with the wrong accession number (1917.25.83), from the time that the Nuer and Dinka display in U.26.A was created it has been displayed with a label that gives the wrong object details.
This incorrect label read: SUDAN, BAHR EL JEBEL, DINKA.
Arm ornament made of bone.
Donated by Major R.G.
Gayer-Anderson.
1917.25.83.
This label needs to be corrected [RTS 10/5/2004].
