IDNO

D.109911.LIN

Description

Watercolour of the back of a Shaman’s outfit, now in the MAA Collections, accession number, 1933.377 A-B and 1933.378 A-B:
“A: shaman's dress (known by Numinchen as samashi), decorated with metal discs. B: collar piece. Brass mirrors bought from Chinese and iron objects no doubt made to order by Chinese smith. The Shaman dress, headdress and drum belonged to the elder daughter of the ex-chief of the Numinchen of the Chol and Imin region. She had died three years previous to the purchase, and there was no young aspirant to the Shaman's profession in the tribe at the time who would require them. The ex-chief refused to sell the Shaman outfit in August 1931, but agreed the following March. The Shaman dress, hat and drum were stored in a covered platform 6 ft above the ground, concealed in the woods, when purchased.” [Taken from Object record 1933.377 A-B, JD 3/2/2011]

“A: embroidered piece for shaman's dress. The ex-chief, father of the dead shamaness, said that his daughter was handsome and liked to be dressed in fine things; and that he had given her his (Manchu-style) official coat to make an alternative piece for the back of her shaman's dress. (Probably this was done when he was deprived of his official title because of too flagrant horse-stealing. This embroidered piece is thus made of material embroidered by Chinese, while the piece [B] attached to the dress now (by buttons; it was clearly optional for her to use either) is clearly of Numinchen workmanship, making use of furs, etc.
‘B: Blue rectangular panel of cloth heavily embroidered in a floral motif with normal threads and metallic threads. From this dangle nine embroidered ?silk tails. M. Backhouse, 9/3/2005.’” [Taken from Object record, 1933.378 A-B, JD 3/2/2011]

Watercolour painting of the back of the Numinchen Shamaness costume brought by Ethel Lindgren in March 1932. The red cloth of the coat is decorated with embroidery on the cuffs and with one band on the upper arms. (Accordingly Mrs Erdenegowa, an Orochen elder, the one band represents that the Shamaness had completed one year of her apprenticeship.) Hanging from the upper back are seven large toli (brass mirrors), which have Chinese script on the underside. The apron piece has the Tree of Life in the centre, with four other embroidery figures on each corner. Hanging from the apron are three pelts of Yellow Weasel (Mustela sibirica), and three black and white fur tails. There are also three blue silk tails and eight red silk tails with embroidery on their ends, and which are backed with stiffer cloth recycled from flour sacks (not visible). The tails are said to represent snakes.
Hanging from under each sleeve are a blue and a black silk scarf.
[Shaman elements information by Mrs Erdenegowa, Orochen elder, Alihe, JD 2/4/2015. Information on the Yellow Weasel by by Huijun Meng, Education Department, Ewenke, JD 17/4/2015. Information on the toli and cloth by Bai Ying, Orochon curator visiting River Stars Reindeer, July 2015]

Place

E Asia; China; Inner Mongolia; Hulun Buir; Ewenke Banner; Imin River [North west Manchuria; Barga Region; Imen River]

Cultural Affliation

Numinchen Orochon

Named Person

Photographer

King, Edith [Artist]

Collector / Expedition

Lindgren, Ethel John

Date

circa 1938

Collection Name

Lindgren Collection

Source

Format

Drawing

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Six watercolours were found in an Agfa paper envelope, now numbered C590/ on Shelf M.1.10.

Publication: The image and information on the Shaman and her costume are given in Lindgren, E. J. “The Shaman Dress of the Dagurs, Solons and Numinchens in N. W. Manchuria.” Geografiska Annaler, vol. 17, 1935, pp. 365–78. Full text available via JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/519873. [JD 10/09/2015]

Exhibited: Shamaness' costume removed from display case 16, CUMAA anthropology galleries, 9 7 1986. Re-displayed in the Maudslay Hall, CUMAA, from 1990. [Taken from Object record 1933.377 A-B, JD 3/2/2011]

MAA Exhibition: The Shamaness' costume was displayed in Assembling Bodies, 10 March 2009 – 6 November 2010. [JD 14/02/2017]

Publication: Image published in 'Assembling Bodies ', and captioned: " ." [JD 14/02/2017]