Nuer milking vessel
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1936.10.32
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Gourd Plant
Process:
Hollowed , Dried
Dimensions:
Ht = 140, mouth diam = 83 x 78, wall th = 4, max body W = 183 mm [RTS 16/8/2005].
Weight:
84.1 g
Other Owners:
This object was probably collected in 1935 or 1936, when Evans-Pritchard held a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer) [RTS 28/9/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1936
Collected Date:
1935 - 1936
Description:
Milking vessel made from a gourd, cut roughly across the top to form a circular opening with uneven holemouth rim, with the walls swelling out convexly below to a globular body with flattish base.
The rim slopes down to one side, and the walls are an irregular shape as they follow the natural contours of the parent plant.
There is a small raised area at the centre of the base interior.
The surface is a warm, glossy orange colour (Pantone 723C) with darker mottled patches running across it; the interior is a matt yellow colour (Pantone 7508C).
The vessel is complete and intact, with a few surface scratches and old insect bore holes on the interior walls.
It has a weight of 84.1 grams and is 140 mm high, with a mouth diameter of 83 by 78 mm, a wall thickness of 4 mm, and a maximum body width of 183 mm.
Evans-Pritchard did his fieldwork amongst the Nuer in four expeditions, which took place in 1930, 1931, 1935 and 1936 amongst the Eastern Jikany and Lou of eastern Nuerland, and the Leek and western Jikany of western Nuerland. This object was probably collected in 1935 or 1936, when he held a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer ).
This vessel was used in milking, which amongst the Nuer is carried out by women, girls and uninitiated boys. If a bottlenecked gourd is used, the milker will balance this on their thighs and milk a single teat at a time into its mouth; if a pot or broad mouthed gourd is used (like this example), it is gripped between the knees while squeezing two teats of the cow at a time. This is done once in the morning and again in the evening. (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, pp 22-3; a girl is shown milking using a bottle necked gourd on plate V, and he discusses the various uses to which the Nuer put milk on pp. 23-26).
Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.
Evans-Pritchard did his fieldwork amongst the Nuer in four expeditions, which took place in 1930, 1931, 1935 and 1936 amongst the Eastern Jikany and Lou of eastern Nuerland, and the Leek and western Jikany of western Nuerland. This object was probably collected in 1935 or 1936, when he held a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer ).
This vessel was used in milking, which amongst the Nuer is carried out by women, girls and uninitiated boys. If a bottlenecked gourd is used, the milker will balance this on their thighs and milk a single teat at a time into its mouth; if a pot or broad mouthed gourd is used (like this example), it is gripped between the knees while squeezing two teats of the cow at a time. This is done once in the morning and again in the evening. (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, pp 22-3; a girl is shown milking using a bottle necked gourd on plate V, and he discusses the various uses to which the Nuer put milk on pp. 23-26).
Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
410] - 1936 [insert] 10 [end insert] E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD, M.A., Exeter College, Oxford.
- Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, while travelling with a Grant from the
Rockefeller
Leverhulme Trustees, viz: [p.
412] [insert] 32 [end insert] - Ditto [Milking-bowl], of gourd, NUER.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 411] - 1936.10.32 number given - LW. [insert, in red biro above number] A4-F5-29.
Card Catalogue Entry [tribes] - EASTERN SUDAN, NUER. Five gourd containers [insert, red] A4-F5-29 [end insert] .32 Milking bowl of gourd with hole for mouth ... Collected and donated by E. Evans-Pritchard [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, NUER tribe. Gourd container, used in milking. d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1936.10.32 [plastic coated label, loose inside object; RTS 16/8/2005].
Written on object - Milking-gourd, NUER, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard 1936 [red ink; RTS 16/8/2005].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 411] - 1936.10.32 number given - LW. [insert, in red biro above number] A4-F5-29.
Card Catalogue Entry [tribes] - EASTERN SUDAN, NUER. Five gourd containers [insert, red] A4-F5-29 [end insert] .32 Milking bowl of gourd with hole for mouth ... Collected and donated by E. Evans-Pritchard [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, NUER tribe. Gourd container, used in milking. d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1936.10.32 [plastic coated label, loose inside object; RTS 16/8/2005].
Written on object - Milking-gourd, NUER, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard 1936 [red ink; RTS 16/8/2005].
