Anuak mat

Other views of this artifact:

Accession Number:

1936.10.52

Country:

Sudan

Region:

[Southern Sudan]

Cultural Group:

Anywaa [Anuak]

Date Made:

By 1936

Materials:

Grass Stem Plant , Plant Fibre

Process:

Woven , Basketry , Dyed

Dimensions:

L = 400, current curled up W = 330, th = 2.8, w strips = 2.8 mm [RTS 8/8/2005].

Weight:

119 g

Local Name:

par

Other Owners:

Presumably collected by Evans-Pritchard during his period of fieldwork amongst the Anuak between early March and May 1935 [RTS 18/6/2004].

Field Collector:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1936

Collected Date:

March - May 1935

Description:

Square mat woven from narrow strips of grass stem fibre, lain side by side and sewn together with lengths of yellow twisted fibre cord running at right angles to the strips (Pantone 7508C). There is a double row of stitching along the upper and lower edges of the square, while the side edges have been reinforced with a short round sectioned twig - there are 2 such pieces along each side, with a narrow gap in the centre where they meet. The grass strips have been dyed different colours, and used to create a checkerboard pattern across the surface, consisting of 7 alternating dark dark brown squares (Pantone 440C), between striped squares of either yellow (Pantone 7510C) or reddish brown strips (Pantone 7517C) that alternate within the square with brown strips. This produces a pattern where rows of brown and red squares lie adjacent to rows of yellow and brown squares. On the long edges between these squares there are also groups of yellow, brown and red stripes that run across the length of the mat as a continuous band, with a similar band of a thin yellow line, thicker brown line and very thick red band framing the borders of the mat on either side. The coloured strips that run across the whole length of the mat are made of a single continuos piece, whereas some of the strips in the squares are only just longer than the width of their squares. The mat is nearly complete, but has a few small holes across the surface, and the top and bottom edges have been damaged. It has a weight of 119 grams. The mat has a length of 400 mm, and is 330 mm wide; this last measurement is not the true width, as the body has curled up at either side and can no longer be lain flat. It has a thickness of 2.8 mm; each grass strip is approximately 2 mm in width.

Collected by E.E. Evans-Pritchard during his fieldwork amongst the Anuak, which took place between early March and May 1935 (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Political System of the Anuak of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, p. 3).

This type of small mat was used to cover food and drink, and is known in Anuak as par. For another example, see 1936.10.53.

Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.

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. 414] [insert] 52-53 [end insert] - [One of] 2 Par , small mats, woven in patterns, for covering food & drink. ANUAK.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 30/1/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - Par , mat for covering food and drink. ANUAK, E. SUDAN. d.d. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1936 [rectangular metal-edged label, tied to object; RTS 14/7/2005].