Shilluk club
 

This arrived this morning. Going back to old habits acquiring an African piece. Not rare but we have not view one for some years. Beautiful form, balance, and most of all patina. 79cm long, 990g. Shown with one I have had for many years {1.300kg} which cost 3 times as much so I am very happy. What is so good about this collecting is the learning. This new piece has prompted me to do more research into the Shilluk. Finding that it was a kingdom with a capital Fashoda. The Fashoda incident has come to my knowledge through collecting. You will not learn that in school history. Is a school history qualification worth anything ?

A nice example of this type of club from Southern Sudan, which was also used by the Dinka and Nuer.

club from Sudan
 

Dinka and Nuer is absolutely right. Shilluk clubs look quite different.

here Dinka: http://www.africanarms.com/alle-albe...4100-84344172/
and http://www.africanarms.com/alle-albe...100-105643443/

and here Shilluk: http://www.africanarms.com/alle-albe...4100-84346731/

I agree with the school learning :-)

I do not want to split hairs but the Pitt-Rivers has Shilluk examples along which the other mentioned peoples. Wodimi, great web site, one or two familiar pieces?

http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsuda...119/index.html
http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsuda...118/index.html
http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsuda....15/index.html

I KNOW VERY LITTLE OF AFRICAN CLUBS OR TRIBES SO WILL ASK PERHAPS A SILLY QUESTION. IS SCHILLUK A TRIBE OR PERHAPS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE CLUBS IN GENERAL SORT OF LIKE WADI AND OTHER LIKE TERMS. THE DIFFERENCES SHOWN IN CLUB FORMS SOME CALLED DINKA AND OTHERS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REFERRED TO AS SCHILLUK MAKE ME ASK. :confused: NICE CLUBS BY THE WAY TIM. :)

My dinka/shilluk club thread

the pitts river references seem to indicate they were mostly used as 'slave clubs' to discipline captives. not the most PC occupation nowadays. The Shilluk Kingdom was located along the banks of the White Nile river in modern South Sudan. Its capital and royal residence was in the town of Fashoda

Dinka club
 

Tim, sorry to say, but this Donald Gunn was wrong, or Pitt Rivers (where much stuff is wrong labeled). Gunn collected at Bor. A little town where you can't find only one Shilluk, they are more north. Bor is Dinka region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilluk_people
Capital town of the Shilluk Fashoda is right, it's today Kodok north from Malakal.
Here akso a good ethnic map http://mapeastafrica.com/wp-content/...UDYAREAETH.jpg .

Last not least a Dinka warrior in more modern times, but with his old club.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/32977742@N08/3178521767

I'm liking it Wodimi. The trouble when revered institutions like Pitt-Rivers gets things wrong. The errors are perpetuated as staff come and go over time. The gravitas of the institution does not encourage revision or questioning.

Shilluk.

Here is an old image of Shilluk warriors for consideration. They appear to be holding "torpedo-shape" clubs, similar to the type posted by Tim. The warrior on the right is also holding a "mushroom-head" club, a pattern more usually associated with the Shilluk...

interesting, but also strange. Maybe made by a studio photographer in Khartoum, for sure not in a Shilluk village, because of the brick wall in the background.

the curved bottom of the white wall section above the bricks looks distinctive. possibly someone will recognise it. looks like it should be a big white circle potentially with writing.

the middle man's hat reminds me of a popular kids toy. the other two look like they were shot from above with a large suction cup headed arrow. i wouldn't be wearing those. to each his own tho. cool spears...

I think that is just a photographers white sheet back drop. I would be interested, has anybody got information on the relations of Southern Sudan kingdoms and the Mahdi rebellion. In a brief search on the internet It appears that the Shilluk resisted the Mahdist Islam. However we have seen Mahdi Islam influenced weapons from as far away as the Congo.

Here are a couple more Shilluk images of warriors. They seem to be carrying clubs of a similar style to those posted by Tim, but a bit longer.

Here's few sudanese clubs from my collection, from the top:
1. Shilluk, 2. Dinka, 3-4. probably Dinka + Shilluk warrior.

Rudolph Slatin (a captive of the Mahdists for several years), mentions this subject in his book "Fire and Sword in the Sudan", 1896. It seems the Mahdists at first left the Shilluks and Dinkas unmolested, however the territory of the Shilluks was later invaded and its people harshly subjugated. I attach some relevant extracts from the book.

I believe that even before the Mahdist regime, the Shilluk people had been the subject of slaving raids from the north.

Worth noting that the Shilluk still exist, and still practise kingship along traditional lines.

There's some interesting footage here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2BPF58HD4A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC43GCGIneM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHBqUHSAJng

Thanks for all contributions. This is intesting, it seems the Turks are the first to have a disruptive hand in Shilluk Land.

http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/...au1.1.016/1112