William Fagg study photographs
name: label: Photographer
content: Fagg, William B., 1914-1992
place: label: Place
content: Senegal
label: Place
content: Africa
label: Place
content: Benin
label: Place
content: Sierra Leone
label: Place
content: Congo (Democratic Republic)
label: Place
content: Nigeria
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Tishman: Paul Tishman, 60 Sutton Place South, New York, NY 10022;, Donation;, 1986/02/19 (signed);, 1986-0014
creator: label: Photographer
content: Fagg, William B., 1914-1992
culture: label: Culture
content: Yoruba (African people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: William Fagg study photographs
abstract: label: Summary
content: The photographs document William Fagg's extensive survey work in Nigeria and his trips to Benin, Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zaire. The photographs illustrate African cultures and works of art, especially those of the Yoruba in Nigeria. Nigerian artisans portrayed include a blacksmith in the town of Jebba, a craftsman casting brass at Ijebu-Ode, and a potter at work in Nok. 

Celebrations and ceremonies documented include the igue oba and itue ceremonies and the festival of leaves in Benin. There are also images of dances of the Bargesh in northern Nigeria and a masked dance at Nok. 

Architecture documented includes altars and shrines in Benin and in Oyo, Nigeria; a Birom settlement; Brazilian-style houses in Porto Novo, Republic of Benin; an emir's house in Nigeria; a Jarawa village in Nigeria; the mosque in Keffi, Nigeria; and palaces of Yoruba kings. 

Most of the photographs show sculpture including Benin bronze plaques and hip masks; Esie stone sculpture; Ifa divination boards, drums, and figures; a Kuba ndop (royal statue) in the Kinshasa Museum; Nok terra-cotta and wooden figures; and Tada bronze figures. There also are images of epa (masquerade) masks; gelede (men's society) masks; a head of Olokun (a male Yoruba divinity) from Ibadan, Nigeria; and Yoruba edan ogboni (bronze staffs) and ibeji (twin figures) from Nigeria. Images of objects by identifiable artists include a palace pillar, post and sculpture by Agbonbiofe; a door and epa mask by Areogun; and a house post and lidded bowl by Olowe of Ise.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: William Buller Fagg (April 28, 1914 - July 10, 1992), M.A. in archaeology and anthropology from Magdalen College at Cambridge University, 1936. From 1938 to 1974, except during World War II, he worked for the Department of Ethnography at the British Museum in London, where he became deputy keeper (1955-1969) and keeper (1969-1974).

William B. Fagg's published works include, The Sculpture of Africa (with photographer Eliot Elisofon) in 1958; Nigerian Images in 1963; Yoruba: Sculpture of West Africa (with John Pemberton) in 1982; and Africa and the Renaissance (with Ezio Bassani) in 1988.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3,004 Photographic prints ((21 boxes), black and white, 8 x 10 in.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: between 1949-1959
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Donated by Paul Tishman, 1986. Arranged and described by Jeffrey and Deborah Stokes Hammer in tandem with William Fagg, 1986.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: EEPA.1986-014
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Images arranged chronologically by year, roll number and frame number.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Original negatives housed at the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britian and Ireland.