Zande bottle
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1930.86.50
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Gourd Plant
Process:
Hollowed , Dried , Decorated , Pyroengraved Pokerwork
Dimensions:
Ht = 596, rim diam = 27, neck diam = 44, max diam = 227 [RTS 18/8/2005].
Weight:
300.7
Local Name:
ndukuru?
Other Owners:
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930 [CM; RTS 6/7/2004]. Purchased from Edward Evans-Pritchard for the PRM by Henry Bal
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Purchased 31 December 1930
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Gourd vessel consisting of an narrow, upright rim on a tall body with swollen, convex-sided ovoid upper part, a long, slender, concave neck, and then a larger pear-shaped lower body with convex base, that does not allow the vessel to stand unaided.
The surface is a warm orange colour (Pantone 730C).
The rim has been cut flat across the top and burnt black (Pantone 440C), while the swollen upper body has been decorated with a series of lines burnt in using a heated tool.
These consist of 2 parallel lines around the circumference just below the rim, a space, then 3 parallel lines, followed by 13 horizontal rows of horizontally hatched triangles, then a further 3 straight lines across the bottom.
There are vertical gouge marks visible on the upper walls, just inside the mouth.
The flask is complete and intact, with a weight of 300.7 grams; it is 596 mm high, has a rim diameter of 27 mm, a neck diameter of 44 mm, and a maximum diameter around the lower body of 227 mm.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.. Purchased from Edward Evans-Pritchard for the museum by Henry Balfour on 31 December 1930, as part of a group of objects, total cost £25.
This vessel is said to be for carrying liquids. Larken publishes an image of a similar bilobed gourd, which he says is used as a water bottle; he gives the name for these as ndukuru (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 91 and pl. VIII). Larken describes the manufacture of Zande gourds as follows: "After cutting, they are soaked in the stream until the interior has rotted, when it is picked out through a small hole with a stick. New gourds are of an alabaster colour, but age and use soon turn them yellow. Divided in half, they form bowls for water or seed; left in their natural shape they are used as water bottles... the hole through which the gourd has been cleaned if often stoppered with a piece of gourd shell, fitting perfectly, having a string through its centre by which it may be extracted." (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 131).
This shape, with its constricted neck, makes the vessel easier to carry and transport; Jeremy Coote has suggested that the gourd plant was deliberately trained into this form.
For a similar vessel, see 1948.2.158, with a fibre suspension loop tied around its neck.
Rachael Sparks 18/8/2005.
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.. Purchased from Edward Evans-Pritchard for the museum by Henry Balfour on 31 December 1930, as part of a group of objects, total cost £25.
This vessel is said to be for carrying liquids. Larken publishes an image of a similar bilobed gourd, which he says is used as a water bottle; he gives the name for these as ndukuru (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 91 and pl. VIII). Larken describes the manufacture of Zande gourds as follows: "After cutting, they are soaked in the stream until the interior has rotted, when it is picked out through a small hole with a stick. New gourds are of an alabaster colour, but age and use soon turn them yellow. Divided in half, they form bowls for water or seed; left in their natural shape they are used as water bottles... the hole through which the gourd has been cleaned if often stoppered with a piece of gourd shell, fitting perfectly, having a string through its centre by which it may be extracted." (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 131).
This shape, with its constricted neck, makes the vessel easier to carry and transport; Jeremy Coote has suggested that the gourd plant was deliberately trained into this form.
For a similar vessel, see 1948.2.158, with a fibre suspension loop tied around its neck.
Rachael Sparks 18/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[BIV, p.
138] - 1930 [insert] 86 [end insert]
E.E.
EVANS PRITCHARD
31 Dec.
Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, etc.
[...] [p.
139, insert] 50 [end insert] - Tall bi-lobed gourd for carrying liquids, decorated with engraving, AZANDE.
[...] [Base of p.
139, total of items 1930.86.1-65] - P[ai]d by cheque 31 Dec £
25-0-0
.
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Zande tribe. Decorated gourd flask. coll. & d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1930.86.50 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 18/8/2005].
Written on object - AZANDE BAHR EL GHAZAL, CENT. AFRICA. Evans-Pritchard coll. Purc. 31.12.1930 [RTS 18/8/2005].
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. This item appears on the list as "1 Calabash flask". There is also an undated list of 48 objects, which does not seem to match accessioned material and could be the list of rejected items that Balfour mentions in the previous letter. The file also contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attritudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time [RTS 10/1/2005].
Added Accession Book Entry [page opposite 138] - 1930.86 See Related Documents File for letter from Henry Balfour to Evans-Pritchard concerning the purchase of this collection.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Zande tribe. Decorated gourd flask. coll. & d.d. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1930.86.50 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 18/8/2005].
Written on object - AZANDE BAHR EL GHAZAL, CENT. AFRICA. Evans-Pritchard coll. Purc. 31.12.1930 [RTS 18/8/2005].
Related Documents File - This contains a letter from Balfour to Evans-Pritchard, dated 31 December 1930 that specifies the objects which he would like to purchase for the Pitt Rivers Museum, and suggests a price of £25, which was one quarter of his annual budget. The list matches the objects ultimately accessioned quite closely. This item appears on the list as "1 Calabash flask". There is also an undated list of 48 objects, which does not seem to match accessioned material and could be the list of rejected items that Balfour mentions in the previous letter. The file also contains a letter from Evans-Pritchard to Mr. Malcolm dated 12 December 1930, offering him some 81 Zande and Nuer objects. As Malcolm was curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, it seems unlikely that these objects were ever sent to the Pitt Rivers Museum and this letter is only useful as background for Evans-Pritchard's attritudes to the intended future use of his material, and as evidence for the temporary storage of these objects in Professor Seligman's office in the London School of Economics at the time [RTS 10/1/2005].
