Nuer hide bag
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1931.66.19
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Nuer
Date Made:
By 1931
Materials:
Cattle Skin Animal? , Giraffe Skin Animal? , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Knotted
Dimensions:
Total L = 390; handle L = 113, W at top = 9, th = 4; body L = 143, mouth diam = 70, body diam = 118; loop L = 160, W = 10.5, th = 0.8 mm [RTS 4/8/2005].
Weight:
117.5 g
Other Owners:
Collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard either in the early part of 1930 (probably February to April), or between February and June of 1931 [CM; RTS 9/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated December 1931
Collected Date:
1930 - 1931
Description:
Hide bag made from an animal's scrotum, possibly from a giraffe.
This has been cut to have 3 narrow tapering strips that are knotted together at the top to form a loop handle that extends above the oval mouth of the vessel.
The body expands below this to reach its maximum diameter midway down the sides; the base is irregularly convex, and pinches in slightly across the centre; this is also oval in plan view.
There is one long oval slit and a larger triangular opening cut in the upper body on one side, just below the base of one of the handles.
The hide is stiff and inflexible, a mid brown colour on the inside surface (Pantone 7532C), and covered with whitish buff hair over the exterior (close to Pantone 7401C).
A narrow strip of soft flexible hide has been tied around the handles to form a suspension loop.
The bag is complete and intact, but has lost patches of hair across the outer surface and has some damage along the edge of the loop.
It has a weight of 117.5 grams and total length of 390 mm.
The handles are 113 mm long, 9 mm wide and 4 mm thick near their tops, while the body is 143 mm long, with a mouth diameter of 70 mm and a maximum body diameter of 118 mm, and the added loop is 160 mm long, 10.5 mm wide and 0.8 mm thick.
This object was collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard either in the period from February to April of 1930, during his first second season of fieldwork amongst the Nuer, or during his second expedition, which took place in the 'dry season' between February and June 1931. In the former, he spent around three and a half months in Leek territory at Yahnyang and Pakur on the Bahr el Ghazal, in Lou territory at Muot Dit, and at Adok, amongst the Dok Nuer. In the latter, he spent five and a half months at Nasir, on the Nyanding River, and at Yakwat on the Sobat River (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, and the map of Evans-Pritchard's fieldwork in D.H. Johnson, "Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer, and the Sudan Political Service", African Affairs 81 no. 323, p. 233).
The Nuer made bags of this kind from the scrota of bulls and giraffe, and used them to hold tobacco, spoons and other small objects (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 30 and fig. 3; the illustrated objects are in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology). The Pitt Rivers Museum has another such bag collected by Evans-Pritchard around the same time (1931.66.20). For a similar bag, used by the Shilluk, see R. Boccassino, 1966, "Contributo allo studio dell'ergologia delle popolazioni nilotiche e nilo-camitiche, parte V", Annali Lateranensi XXX , fig. 58, and p. 302 (Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde und Vorgeschichte Accession number 17.28:288). The Bari also made use of animal scrota for small purses; these have flattened bodies rather than the fuller shape seen in this example (see 1934.8.42-43).
Rachael Sparks 4/8/2005.
This object was collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard either in the period from February to April of 1930, during his first second season of fieldwork amongst the Nuer, or during his second expedition, which took place in the 'dry season' between February and June 1931. In the former, he spent around three and a half months in Leek territory at Yahnyang and Pakur on the Bahr el Ghazal, in Lou territory at Muot Dit, and at Adok, amongst the Dok Nuer. In the latter, he spent five and a half months at Nasir, on the Nyanding River, and at Yakwat on the Sobat River (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, and the map of Evans-Pritchard's fieldwork in D.H. Johnson, "Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer, and the Sudan Political Service", African Affairs 81 no. 323, p. 233).
The Nuer made bags of this kind from the scrota of bulls and giraffe, and used them to hold tobacco, spoons and other small objects (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, p. 30 and fig. 3; the illustrated objects are in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology). The Pitt Rivers Museum has another such bag collected by Evans-Pritchard around the same time (1931.66.20). For a similar bag, used by the Shilluk, see R. Boccassino, 1966, "Contributo allo studio dell'ergologia delle popolazioni nilotiche e nilo-camitiche, parte V", Annali Lateranensi XXX , fig. 58, and p. 302 (Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde und Vorgeschichte Accession number 17.28:288). The Bari also made use of animal scrota for small purses; these have flattened bodies rather than the fuller shape seen in this example (see 1934.8.42-43).
Rachael Sparks 4/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[IX, p.
16] 1931 [insert, in pencil] 66 [end insert]
E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD
, Esq.
Dec.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, viz.
[pencil insert, p.
18] 19-20 [end insert] - [One of] 2 bag-like receptacles with loop handles, for carrying odds & ends, made from the scrota of large animals (?ox and giraffe).
NUER.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Receptacle for odds & ends, made from the scrotum of a bull (?giraffe). NUER tribe, E. SUDAN. Pres. by E. Evans-Pritchard 1931 [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 4/8/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Receptacle for odds & ends, made from the scrotum of a bull (?giraffe). NUER tribe, E. SUDAN. Pres. by E. Evans-Pritchard 1931 [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 4/8/2005].
