basket
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1929.40.1 .1 - .2
Country:
Sudan
Date Made:
By 1929
Materials:
Animal Leather Skin , Plant Fibre
Process:
Coiled , Wound , Basketry , Stitched
Dimensions:
Total height = 155 mm; lid Ht = 31, top L = 65.5, top W = 65, base L = 45.5, base W = 40, W leather strips = 4 mm; basket body Ht = 150, rim diam = 53, mouth diam = 44, body L = 128.5, body W = 127.5, base diam = 120 mm [RTS 15/12/2004].
Weight:
149.8 g
Other Owners:
H. Scott
Field Collector:
?H. Scott
PRM Source:
H. Scott
Acquired:
Donated 1929
Collected Date:
By 1929
Description:
Tall closed basketry container [.1] with a fitted lid [.2].
The lid is circular and has a flat disc-shaped top, with a tall, hollow stoppered base set in from the underside edge.
It has been made in 2 pieces; the upper piece is flat and formed from a bundle of fibre strips, wound into a spiral from the centre outwards, with each coil wound round with further strips and bound together with its neighbours.
This was originally a strong yellow colour (Pantone 7402C) but has faded on the outside (Pantone 7401C).
A narrow leather strip has been overstitched around the outer edge of this section; the original colour of this was a deep reddish brown (Pantone 477C), still visible on the underside of the lid, although this has faded on the outer surface to a pale yellowish brown colour (Pantone 465C).
On the upper surface of the lid, the inside end of this leather strip has then been wound around into an angular 'spiral', roughly hexagonal in shape, with fibre stitches from the coil binding anchoring it in place at the end of each side; each side is of slightly different length.
This coils around to form 3 rows, then at its centre a pentagonal piece of leather has been set into the centre of the upper side, and stitched in place at its corners.
The stoppered base of the lid sits at right angles to this flat top, and has probably been made as a separate piece, using a similar coil technique, with the binding strips being used to fasten the two parts together.
The lower edge has also been overstitched with a reddish brown strip of leather.
The lid is complete and intact, with an individual weight of 14.7 grams; it measures 65.5 by 65 mm across the top, 45.5 by 40 mm across the stoppered base, and has a height of 31 mm.
The leather strips are 4 mm wide.
The basket body has a narrow concave neck that expands outwards towards its base, where it joins onto a cylindrical body with slightly convex sides on a broad flat base. This is made of yellow plant fibre using the same coiling technique and in a similar colour. The rim has been overstitched with a strip of reddish brown leather; this stitching continues for 2 rows, then the strip is flattened out and wound around the body in a long spiral that continues round the sides, then onto the base underside, stopping close to the centre, where a roughly circular piece of leather has been fitted in place with fibre stitching at 6 points around the edges to secure it. The leather strips are held in place by regular pairs of fibre stitches, arranged to form a pattern that is composed of vertical groups of usually 4 or more stitches, slightly offset from the groups above and below them, with some sections filled with stitching in a horizontal chequerboard design. This pattern is not symmetrical. Like the lid, the original colours of the fibre body and leather strips have faded considerably, so that the contrast between the different materials is less obvious. The original colour is still preseved in patches on the lower body, and on the interior walls. The body is complete and intact, with a weight of 135 grams; it has a height of 150 mm, a rim diameter of 53 mm, a mouth diameter of 44 mm, a maximum body width of 128.5 mm by 127.3 mm, and a base diameter of 120 mm. The lid and body have a total weight of 149.8 grams, and a height of 155 mm.
Collected by H. Scott, and presented to the Museum in 1929.
Currently on display in the Court, case 121A.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
The basket body has a narrow concave neck that expands outwards towards its base, where it joins onto a cylindrical body with slightly convex sides on a broad flat base. This is made of yellow plant fibre using the same coiling technique and in a similar colour. The rim has been overstitched with a strip of reddish brown leather; this stitching continues for 2 rows, then the strip is flattened out and wound around the body in a long spiral that continues round the sides, then onto the base underside, stopping close to the centre, where a roughly circular piece of leather has been fitted in place with fibre stitching at 6 points around the edges to secure it. The leather strips are held in place by regular pairs of fibre stitches, arranged to form a pattern that is composed of vertical groups of usually 4 or more stitches, slightly offset from the groups above and below them, with some sections filled with stitching in a horizontal chequerboard design. This pattern is not symmetrical. Like the lid, the original colours of the fibre body and leather strips have faded considerably, so that the contrast between the different materials is less obvious. The original colour is still preseved in patches on the lower body, and on the interior walls. The body is complete and intact, with a weight of 135 grams; it has a height of 150 mm, a rim diameter of 53 mm, a mouth diameter of 44 mm, a maximum body width of 128.5 mm by 127.3 mm, and a base diameter of 120 mm. The lid and body have a total weight of 149.8 grams, and a height of 155 mm.
Collected by H. Scott, and presented to the Museum in 1929.
Currently on display in the Court, case 121A.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
310] [insert, pencil] 40 [end insert] -
DR.
H.
SCOTT
, Sc.D., The Willows, Charlbury, - Vase-shaped basket with stopper-lid, coil-built, with covering of spirally-wound leather strip.
E.
SUDAN.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Coiled basket overlaid with leather strips E. SUDAN pres. by Dr. H. Scott, 1929 [rectangular metal-edged tag, inside object; RTS 15/12/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Coiled basket overlaid with leather strips E. SUDAN pres. by Dr. H. Scott, 1929 [rectangular metal-edged tag, inside object; RTS 15/12/2004].
Display History:
Former display label - Basket, coiled technique, covered with strips of leather.
E.
SUDAN.
Pres.
by [previous text handwritten] Hugh Scott, Sc.D, The Willows, Charlbury, Oxon [printed] 18 Oct., 1929 [handwritten; business card annotated and used as display label, inside object; RTS 15/12/2004].
