Acholi piece apron
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1953.6.59
Country:
Uganda
Region:
Pader District Palabek
Cultural Group:
Acholi
Date Made:
By 1953
Materials:
Monkey Skin Animal , Monkey Hair Animal , Animal Fur Skin , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Perforated
Dimensions:
L = 1280, including fur; Skin only W = 552 across front legs, 372 at centre, 750 mm across back legs [RTS 15/2/2005].
Weight:
239.5 g
Other Owners:
C.J.N. Clen-Murphy
Field Collector:
C.J.N. Clen-Murphy
PRM Source:
C.J.N. Clen-Murphy
Acquired:
Donated June 1953
Collected Date:
By 1953
Description:
Garment made from Colobus monkey skin and worn around the loins with the tail hanging down the back.
This has been cut to retain the basic shape of the animal, with the neck, front and back legs and long tail preserved, the latter all the way to its tip.
The inner surface has been scraped down, and is currently a light yellowish colour (Pantone 7508C).
The outer surface is covered with thick, long monkey hair in the distinctive patterning of the Colobus monkey, with black fur down the centre of the back and along the limbs and tail (Pantone Black 6C), and a mantle of white fur around the flanks and at the tail's brushy end (Pantone 7401C).
This is generally well preserved, although 2 patches have been worn down along the lower sides.
There is a v-shaped cut mark on one of the hind flaps, and a series of holes have been pushed through the hide all the way around its edges of the skin, the only area not treated in this way being the tail.
Their outer edges have all been stretched, to create a series of small loops, that may have been threaded with cord and used to tie the garment in place, although no trace of this has survived.
Alternatively, they may represent holes from pegging out the skin when preparing it.
A couple of these loops have broken.
2 longer slits have also been cut into the end of one of the front leg flaps.
There are also a few small, circular pin holes along the upper, neck edge, surrounded by what may be iron staining; these are likely to represent some former method of displaying or mounting the skin, rather than part of the original object.
The skin is complete and in comparatively good condition, with flecks of green paint and an unidentified blue material on the inner surface.
It has a weight of 239.5 grams, and is 1280 mm long (including the fur) and 552 mm wide across the front legs, 372 mm wide across the centre of the body and 750 mm wide across the back legs (skin only).
Collected by C.J.N. Clen-Murphy at Palabek, in the Pader District of northern Uganda, near the border with the Sudan. It was donated to the Museum in June 1953. It was said to come from a sub-section of the Acholi, called the jo-pa-labek - a term that may simply translate as 'the people of Palabek' or 'people of the place Labek' (J. Coote, pers. comm. 2005).
This type of skin was worn during ceremonies and dances; a similar garment is currently in the Museo Preistorico ed Etnografico 'Luigi Pigorini' in Rome, accession number 96031, and was also worn by Acholi men around the loins (R. Boccassino, 1964, "Contributo allo studio dell’ ergologia delle popolazioni Nilotiche e Nilo-camitche. Parte quarta. Il vestito, il tatuaggio, le deformazioni del corpo, gli ornamenti e la circoncisione", Annali Lateranensi XXVIII, p. 147, fig 61). Colobus monkey skins are also worn as dance collars by the Southern Larim (see 1979.20.178, from Loryok).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Collected by C.J.N. Clen-Murphy at Palabek, in the Pader District of northern Uganda, near the border with the Sudan. It was donated to the Museum in June 1953. It was said to come from a sub-section of the Acholi, called the jo-pa-labek - a term that may simply translate as 'the people of Palabek' or 'people of the place Labek' (J. Coote, pers. comm. 2005).
This type of skin was worn during ceremonies and dances; a similar garment is currently in the Museo Preistorico ed Etnografico 'Luigi Pigorini' in Rome, accession number 96031, and was also worn by Acholi men around the loins (R. Boccassino, 1964, "Contributo allo studio dell’ ergologia delle popolazioni Nilotiche e Nilo-camitche. Parte quarta. Il vestito, il tatuaggio, le deformazioni del corpo, gli ornamenti e la circoncisione", Annali Lateranensi XXVIII, p. 147, fig 61). Colobus monkey skins are also worn as dance collars by the Southern Larim (see 1979.20.178, from Loryok).
Rachael Sparks 14/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
33]
- C.J.N CLEN-MURPHY, ...
OXFORD.
1953.6.59 - UGANDA, GULU [insert] PALABEK [end insert].
Monkey skin, of a special kind, worn for ceremonies and dances.
It is draped across the loins with the tail hanging down at the back [insert] (See details in end-papers) [end insert].
Related Documents File - RDF 1953.6.59, letter from C.J.N. Clen-Murphy dated 17 August, 1953: 'Some further particulars concerning the monkey skin, which I sent you, are as follows: - the skin is that of a Colobus monkey, they are rare in many parts of Uganda, and are protected by the gaming laws. This one has come from a place called Palabek, on the Uganda-Sudan border, a mountainous region where the monkey is common. They are worn, when obtainable, by tribes all over Uganda, but this one came from a tribe called the jo-pa-labek, a subsection of the Acholi' [GI 8/2/2002].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - UGANDA, GULU. Monkey's tail worn round the loins on ceremonial occasions. 1953.6.59. d.d. C.J.N. Clen-Murphy [circular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 15/2/2005].
Related Documents File - RDF 1953.6.59, letter from C.J.N. Clen-Murphy dated 17 August, 1953: 'Some further particulars concerning the monkey skin, which I sent you, are as follows: - the skin is that of a Colobus monkey, they are rare in many parts of Uganda, and are protected by the gaming laws. This one has come from a place called Palabek, on the Uganda-Sudan border, a mountainous region where the monkey is common. They are worn, when obtainable, by tribes all over Uganda, but this one came from a tribe called the jo-pa-labek, a subsection of the Acholi' [GI 8/2/2002].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - UGANDA, GULU. Monkey's tail worn round the loins on ceremonial occasions. 1953.6.59. d.d. C.J.N. Clen-Murphy [circular metal-edged tag, tied to object; RTS 15/2/2005].
