Moru man drawing bow
119 x 67 mm | Print gelatin silver
MountDimension:
119 x 67 mm
Date of Print:
Unknown
Accession Number:
1998.208.48.7
Description:
A Moru man drawing back a bow with the use of a hide ring (driba) on the right hand, a couple of spare arrows clasped in his left hand holding the bow.
It is likely that this image was taken during a hunting expedition to the area in April 1933, and donated as contextual information about the use of the bow, hide ring and tanged arrow, all of which are pictured being used in the photo and which were donated to the museum also in 1934.
The photograph (mounted on wood) seems to have been used by the museum in an Upper Gallery display case alongside the hide ring, from the 1930s until the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Photographer:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Date of Photo:
1933 ?April
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Azumvuba
Group:
Moru
Notes:
This photograph is likely to have been taken by Powell-Cotton in April 1933 during a shooting expedition to the Mongalla area - information that is noted with a bow and associated objects donated to the museum (1934.8.32-.34) the following year.
The bow and equipment in the museum's collection may be the same pictured in this image, although this remains to be confirmed [7.9.2005].
This photo is mounted on a piece of wooden board (3mm thick) with a hand-written label in Henry Balfour's handwriting.
It is likely therefore to have been mounted for display in the museum between 1934-1939 alongside the hide ring to which it refers.
[Chris Morton 7/9/2005]
A note about the hide ring pictured here, also in PRM collection - The Moru name for this type of object is given as driba, and it was worn on the right hand while drawing the bow string . A similar type of archer's ring is in the Berlin Museum; the collector attributed this to the Nuer, but Evans-Pritchard has suggested that this is incorrect (R. Boccassino, 1960, "Contributo allo studio dell'ergologia delle popolazioni Nilotiche e Nilo-camitiche, parte prima", Annali Lateranensi XXIV, fig. 100b, pp 381-2 and note 7). For a Moru bow and arrow, collected at the same time, see 1934.8.32-33 [RTS 6/9/2005].
A note about the hide ring pictured here, also in PRM collection - The Moru name for this type of object is given as driba, and it was worn on the right hand while drawing the bow string . A similar type of archer's ring is in the Berlin Museum; the collector attributed this to the Nuer, but Evans-Pritchard has suggested that this is incorrect (R. Boccassino, 1960, "Contributo allo studio dell'ergologia delle popolazioni Nilotiche e Nilo-camitiche, parte prima", Annali Lateranensi XXIV, fig. 100b, pp 381-2 and note 7). For a Moru bow and arrow, collected at the same time, see 1934.8.32-33 [RTS 6/9/2005].
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Other Owners:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Class:
Weapon
Keyword:
Bow , Arrow
Primary Documentation:
Notes on label stuck to front - 'MORU archer using hide ring on his right hand for drawing the bowstring, AZUMBOOBA, E.
SUDAN./ Phot.
by Major Powell-Cotton, 1934'.
[PG 9/6/2004]
Display History:
Likely to have been formerly on display in the Upper Gallery case currently described [7/9/2005] in the PRM catalgoue as 'Upper Gallery. Case 72.B - Archery Accessories', alongside the oval archer's accessory made from sewn hide, used to assist drawing th
Other Information:
Azumvuba (also spelled on label as Azumbooba) is probably located somewhere around the town of Mongalla, either in the modern districts of Bahr el Jebel or Western Equatoria [RTS 11/11/2003].
Recorder:
Philip Grover 9/6/2004 Christopher Morton 7/9/2005 [Sudan Project]
Related Collections:
1934.8.34
