West African photographs
odd: label: General note
content: Images indexed by negative number.
place: label: Place
content: Ghana
label: Place
content: Cameroon
label: Place
content: Liberia
label: Place
content: Elmina (Ghana)
label: Place
content: Nigeria
label: Place
content: Monrovia (Liberia)
label: Place
content: Fernando Po (Equatorial Guinea)
label: Place
content: Lagos (Nigeria)
label: Place
content: Africa
label: Place
content: Accra (Ghana)
label: Place
content: Benin
topic: label: Topic
content: Cultural landscapes
setName: label: See more items in
content: West African photographs
abstract: label: Summary
content: Photographs of West Africa, mostly from Lagos and coastal Nigeria, 1877-1895. There are high quality pictures of trading houses and residences in Lagos, often with the name of the owners given in the caption. One of the buildings depicted is the cathedral. Several exceptional images portray chiefs, such as the King of Opobo, and the wives of the King of Opobo, the Balogun of Epe, the Alake of Abeokuta, and the chief of New Calabar. Of greatest interest is a photograph entitled "Benin Gods" which shows figures from the Kingdom of Brass, taken in circa 1877/1878. There are also views of Cape Coast, Elmina, Accra, Wydah, Fernando Poo, Porto Novo, Grand Popo, and one from Liberia. The themes range from architecture to dances and weddings. Of particular interest are two depictions of fancy dress.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 169 Negatives (photographic) (dupe negs., black & white, 4 x 5 in. )
label: Extent
content: 169 Photographic prints (dupe prints (2 v.), black & white, 8 x 10 in. )
label: Extent
content: 169 Photographic prints ((1 album), black & white, 14 x 20 cm. or smaller.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: between 1877-1895
container: label: Container
content: Item 160
label: Container
content: Volume 1
label: Container
content: Volume 2
label: Container
content: Box 1
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Purchase, 1995. Conserved through a preservation grant funded by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2006.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: EEPA.1995-017
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Black-and-white photographs
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Black-and-white photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints