passport;
religious/ritual equipment;
cloth;
penis-ring;
container
- Museum number
- Af1902,0621.22
- Description
-
Passport, ritual object, consisting of a roll of cloth made of vegetable fibre, strings, cowrie shells; to which is attached by means of a twisted strip of cotton material a number of objects; including two gourds, one covered by antelope skin, each having feathered stoppers; two penis rings made of string, one decorated with cowrie shells, the other with two clusters of red crab's eye berries; a round object of plaited cane; a small cloth bag with cowrie shells attached.
- Production date
- 1900 (c.)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 64.50 centimetres
-
Width: 15.80 centimetres
-
Depth: 5 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Recorded on the slip as coming from "Dakengari", which is near the Dahomey border and very far from teh Benue. The slip has the following comment: "Dr Christy writes with regard to this object. 'It was taken from the chief's hut at a village about 20 miles from the left bank of the Benue, about 40 miles from its junction with the Niger. Some natives were extremely anxious to obtain these jujus, and as far as I could make out they were used by the King's messengers as a passport through or to other tribes of their districts. I was told afterwards that the rings were used to put the penis through during copulation in order to make sure of the fidelity of the woman; but I suspect that they were merely used to constrict the glans penis during the act or some such aid to ejaculation."
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1902
- Acquisition notes
- Af1902,0621.1 to 24 were purchased from Dr Cuthbert Christy. All are listed as coming from the "Niger Benue district". Christy had been a medical officer in northern Nigeria in 1898-1900, and had most probably collected the objects then.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1902,0621.22
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Af1902A0621.22a:a-f (old CDMS no.)