Nuer toy figure
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1936.10.85
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Maker:
Made by boys.
Date Made:
By 1936
Materials:
Clay , ?Cotton Yarn Plant , String , Pigment
Process:
Modelled , Pinched , Perforated , Dried , Painted
Dimensions:
Ht = 122, L = 138, W = 35 mm [RTS 13/10/2004].
Weight:
361.3 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:
Toy ox figure, hand made from a well levigated gray clay with many small mica inclusions (Pantone 7532C), sun dried and then painted with red (Pantone 7415C), orange (Pantone 712C) and white to cream pigment (Pantone 7506C).
This consists of a cylindrical body, pinched sharply together at the front to form a vertical ridge running down the chest.
This ridge continues up over the head area, which is poorly defined, and dominated by a very large pair of horns, curving in front on the head and upwards at their tips.
These have been pierced near their ends, and a short length of cream coloured string passed through (Pantone 7506C), possibly cotton.
A series of clay pellets were then pressed around the string as small weighted ornaments.
The right horn has 3 of these pellets hanging down one side of the horn, and 2 on the other; the left horn has a single pellet on one side, and 3 on the other.
Two small pellets have been applied behind the base of the horns and flattened, to form the ears.
Behind the head, the back runs up to a short rounded hump, then down concavely behind.
A thin piece of clay has been rolled and pressed against the back of the body, running down between the hind legs to form a tail that tapers to its base.
Four legs have been pulled out from the underside of the body; the front pair of legs have no individual definition and extend like a rectangular pillar down to the ground; the back pair are separated just above the base.
All have flattened undersides, allowing the figure to stand upright.
A narrow strip of clay has been applied to the underside of the belly, and pinched to form a ridge that runs along this area; at its base, three small pellets have been added to represent the male genitalia.
The surface has been painted with pigment to simulate the colouring of the animal's hide.
This consists of a broad red band, running down the hump and across the chests of the animal; a white band around the body below, then another red band over the rear body and legs on one side, with an orange band over the opposite flank.
The figure is complete, but has been mended from 5 fragments, with all the breaks occurring on the horns.
It has a weight of 361.3 grams, is 122 mm high, 138 mm long and 35 mm wide across the hind quarters.
This object was collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard when he held a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer ), either during May to July 1935, when he worked amongst the Nuer Lou and Eastern Jikany, or from October to November 1936, when he was working amongst the Karlual section of the Nuer Leek, in Western Nuerland (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
This figure is probably an ox, rather than a bull, as the Nuer generally only train and decorate the horns of their castrated male cattle (ox being a term that is often applied to castrated bovine quadrupeds, whereas bull used more generically for the male of the species). For another ox figure with pellet strings hanging from its horns, see 1936.10.90.
This object was published by J. Coote, in "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", J. Coote & A. Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, 1992, fig. 10.7 (far left). Coote comments that these figures are labelled Anuak, but are almost certainly all Nuer. It is also published in: F. Turner & J. Cousins, 1986, Birds and Animals: A Pitt Rivers Museum Colouring Book , sketch on p. 13.
These figures were made by boys, and played with by children of both sexes. Evans-Pritchard says of the Nuer that: “The games of rather older children of both sexes centre round cattle. They build byres of sand in camps and of moistened ashes or mud in villages, and fill the toy kraals with fine mud cows and oxen ... with which they play at herding and marriage” (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 38). These types of figures are differentiated to show the sex of the animal, and often include details such as hide markings and decorative ornaments (see 1936.10.85-86). They are not confined to cattle, but include wild animals, such as giraffes (1936.10.91, 1936.10.71), lions (1937.34.73, 1937.34.78), buffalo (1937.34.77), and hedgehogs (1937.34.70), as well as people (1936.10.92-93, 1937.34.74-75).
For clay figures made by the Dinka, see S.L. Cummins 1904, "Sub-tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas", JRAI 34, pp 160-161, and for a photograph of Shilluk children playing with a large group of such figures, see H.A. Bernatzik, 1929, Zwischen Weissem Nil und Belgisch-Kongo, fig. 137.
Currently on display in the Court, case 143A.
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
This object was collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard when he held a research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer ), either during May to July 1935, when he worked amongst the Nuer Lou and Eastern Jikany, or from October to November 1936, when he was working amongst the Karlual section of the Nuer Leek, in Western Nuerland (pers. comm. Chris Morton 2004).
This figure is probably an ox, rather than a bull, as the Nuer generally only train and decorate the horns of their castrated male cattle (ox being a term that is often applied to castrated bovine quadrupeds, whereas bull used more generically for the male of the species). For another ox figure with pellet strings hanging from its horns, see 1936.10.90.
This object was published by J. Coote, in "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", J. Coote & A. Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, 1992, fig. 10.7 (far left). Coote comments that these figures are labelled Anuak, but are almost certainly all Nuer. It is also published in: F. Turner & J. Cousins, 1986, Birds and Animals: A Pitt Rivers Museum Colouring Book , sketch on p. 13.
These figures were made by boys, and played with by children of both sexes. Evans-Pritchard says of the Nuer that: “The games of rather older children of both sexes centre round cattle. They build byres of sand in camps and of moistened ashes or mud in villages, and fill the toy kraals with fine mud cows and oxen ... with which they play at herding and marriage” (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 38). These types of figures are differentiated to show the sex of the animal, and often include details such as hide markings and decorative ornaments (see 1936.10.85-86). They are not confined to cattle, but include wild animals, such as giraffes (1936.10.91, 1936.10.71), lions (1937.34.73, 1937.34.78), buffalo (1937.34.77), and hedgehogs (1937.34.70), as well as people (1936.10.92-93, 1937.34.74-75).
For clay figures made by the Dinka, see S.L. Cummins 1904, "Sub-tribes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Dinkas", JRAI 34, pp 160-161, and for a photograph of Shilluk children playing with a large group of such figures, see H.A. Bernatzik, 1929, Zwischen Weissem Nil und Belgisch-Kongo, fig. 137.
Currently on display in the Court, case 143A.
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
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.
418] [insert] 82-90 [end insert] - [One of] 9 Figures of clay, representing bulls and cows (showing varieties of horn growth, colouring etc), made by boys & used as toys by boys and girls.
ANUAK
.
[pencil insert] ANUAK? [end insert] NUER.
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 417, in red biro, with line relating these to records 1936.10.82-90] - A15.F36.5 [group shot], 68.18.34-35 [should be 68.18.31-32, shot of 1936.10.72 only, RTS 5/10/2004], PR 458Q, PR 117-118Q.
Card Catalogue Entry - Information as accession book entry, with additional handwritten data: [insert, red] A15.F36.5 PR 117-118Q [end insert], EASTERN SUDAN [ANUAK? covered in white-out, insert] NUER [end insert], [insert, black] These figures are labelled ANUAK but are almost certainly Nuer (inof. from Jeremy Coote 1992). Jeremy Coote, "Marvels of Everyday Vision": The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", in Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton (eds.), Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics (Oxford Studies in the Anthropology of Cultural Forms, 1), Oxford: Clarendon Press 1992. Copy in Research File - COOTE [RTS 23/7/2004].
Written on object - Toy cow [sic]. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. Evans-Pritchard, 1936 [RTS 13/10/2004].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 417, in red biro, with line relating these to records 1936.10.82-90] - A15.F36.5 [group shot], 68.18.34-35 [should be 68.18.31-32, shot of 1936.10.72 only, RTS 5/10/2004], PR 458Q, PR 117-118Q.
Card Catalogue Entry - Information as accession book entry, with additional handwritten data: [insert, red] A15.F36.5 PR 117-118Q [end insert], EASTERN SUDAN [ANUAK? covered in white-out, insert] NUER [end insert], [insert, black] These figures are labelled ANUAK but are almost certainly Nuer (inof. from Jeremy Coote 1992). Jeremy Coote, "Marvels of Everyday Vision": The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", in Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton (eds.), Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics (Oxford Studies in the Anthropology of Cultural Forms, 1), Oxford: Clarendon Press 1992. Copy in Research File - COOTE [RTS 23/7/2004].
Written on object - Toy cow [sic]. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. Evans-Pritchard, 1936 [RTS 13/10/2004].
Publication History:
J.
Coote, in "‘Marvels of Everyday Vision’: The Anthropology of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes", J.
Coote & A.
Shelton (eds), Anthropology Art and Aesthetics, 1992, figure 10.7 (far left).
Coote comments that these figures are labelled Anuak, but are almost certainly all Nuer. Francia Turner and Julia Cousins, 1986, Birds and Animals: A Pitt Rivers Museum Colouring Book (Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford), p.
13, sketch.
The caption on the same page reads: 'Giraffe, bull and cow.
Nuer children play with bulls and cows like these.
In their games they are looking after the herds as their parents do.
They play with animals like the giraffe because they live near them' [JC 10/9/2004].
