Zande currency blade
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1930.86.55
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Iron Metal
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Decorated , Notched
Dimensions:
L = 580, tang L = 114, max tang W = 27.8, tang th = 3 mm; blade shoulders W = 65, blade end W = 168, th = 3 to 3.3. mm [RTS 14/6/2005]
Weight:
>1000 g
Local Name:
bananan?
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. Purchased from him for the Pitt Rivers Museum by Henry Balfour on 31 December 193
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Purchased 31 December 1930
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Iron currency token in the shape of a knife blade with blunt edges.
This consists of a short leaf-shaped tang, pointed at the end then widening to a rectangular sectioned leaf-shaped body with convex sides swelling out and then in again at its junction with the blade.
There is a slight line down the centre of the tang on both sides, and a flattened area at its top where it has been hammered.
The blade itself consists of short, angular concave shoulders that flare outwards, before turning in to the narrow elongated body with concave, blunt sides that splay out at the other end to form a broad, curved end.
This has been decorated on one face only with a series of incised notches that follow the curving edge.
Numerous hammering marks can be seen across the surface.
The knife is complete and intact, although of course lacks any kind of handle fixing; there are some surface irregularities and traces of rust, giving the object a dark grayish brown colour (Pantone black 7C)
;
one face also has a number of lines pencilled across the surface, probably not original.
It has a weight in excess of 1000 grams, with a total length of 580 mm, and a tang length of 114 mm; the tang has a maximum width of 27.8 mm and thickness of 3 mm; the blade is 65 mm wide across the shoulders, and 168 mm wide across the blade end; thickness across the blade varies from 3 to 3.3 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 him for the Pitt Rivers Museum by Henry Balfour on 31 December 1930, as part of a group of objects, total cost £25.
This blade was used as bride money, and according to Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton has the local name bananan (see 1934.8.131, which has a similar form and function). The University of Leeds also have a comparable blade in their Anthropology collections, equipped with handle, which is attributed to Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo (FL 1965.388, WHMM 53562).
Evans-Pritchard describes the custom of paying bride wealth to the father of a prospective bride in the form of spears; these are handed over at intervals after betrothal, which occurs when the girl is a child; at least ten spears would be considered normal before a marriage would take place. Marriage spears continue to be presented to the father as long as the marriage lasts (C.G. and B.Z. Seligman, 1932, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, chapter X: The Azande, pp 511-513). Although this blade represents a different form of bride wealth, it would have been used in a similar way.
Rachael Sparks 22/8/2005.
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 him for the Pitt Rivers Museum by Henry Balfour on 31 December 1930, as part of a group of objects, total cost £25.
This blade was used as bride money, and according to Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton has the local name bananan (see 1934.8.131, which has a similar form and function). The University of Leeds also have a comparable blade in their Anthropology collections, equipped with handle, which is attributed to Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo (FL 1965.388, WHMM 53562).
Evans-Pritchard describes the custom of paying bride wealth to the father of a prospective bride in the form of spears; these are handed over at intervals after betrothal, which occurs when the girl is a child; at least ten spears would be considered normal before a marriage would take place. Marriage spears continue to be presented to the father as long as the marriage lasts (C.G. and B.Z. Seligman, 1932, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, chapter X: The Azande, pp 511-513). Although this blade represents a different form of bride wealth, it would have been used in a similar way.
Rachael Sparks 22/8/2005.
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.
139a, insert] 54-55 [end insert] - [1 of] 2 iron currency pieces, conventionalized knife blades with blunt edges, used for paying 'bride prices', AZANDE.
[Drawing] [...] [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 - Currency-piece used for paying bride-price. AZANDE, E. CENT. AFRICA (derived from Congo tribes). Evans Pritchard coll. Pur. 31.12.1930 [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 14/6/2005].
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 one of "2 bride-price blades (Zande)" [RTS 17/5/2004].
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 - Currency-piece used for paying bride-price. AZANDE, E. CENT. AFRICA (derived from Congo tribes). Evans Pritchard coll. Pur. 31.12.1930 [rectangular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 14/6/2005].
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 one of "2 bride-price blades (Zande)" [RTS 17/5/2004].
