Colonial Masters and slaves Lagos

School children in Eastern Nigeria (post colonial)

Building a house in Northern Nigeria

Fish festival in Northern Nigeria

"The King's Sleeping Room, 1817"

From Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: With a Descriptive Account of that Kingdom by Thomas E. Bowditch



"Part of the Piazza in the Palace, 1817"

Also from Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: With a Descriptive Account of that Kingdom by Thomas E. Bowditch

Both of these images are drawings of parts of Kumasi, the capital of the former Ashanti Confederacy.

abbk000: Colonial Masters and slaves Lagos

School children in Eastern Nigeria (post colonial)

@abbk000



Pls
Its not colonial masters

They are called colonialists etc

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/denham/denham3.jpg[/img]

“Body Guard of the Sheikh of Bornou”

"The sheikh’s negroes, as they were called, meaning the black chiefs and favourites, all raised to that rank by some deed of bravery, were habited in coats of mail composed of iron chain, which covered them from the throat to the knees, dividing behind, and coming on each side of the horse: some of them had helmets, or rather skull-caps, of the same metal, with chin-pieces, all sufficiently strong to ward off the shock of a spear. Their horses’ heads were also defended by plates of iron, brass, and silver, just leaving sufficient room for the eyes of the animal." - Dixon Denham (1786-1828), Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/denham/denham4.jpg[/img]

“Reception of the Mission. By the Sultan of Bornou”

From Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/denham/denham6.jpg[/img]

"Arrival at Mora. The Capital of Mandara"

"Through an open space, or break in the wood, I had this day seen part of the Mandara hills . . . We were now but a few miles from the capital of Mandara . . . At about a mile from this town, we saw before us the sultan of Mandara, surrounded by about five hundred horsemen, posted on a rising ground ready to receive us . . . Different parties now charged up to the front of our line, and wheeling suddenly around, charged back again to the sultan. These people were finely dressed in Soudan tobes of different colours; dark blue, and striped with yellow and red; bornouses of coarse scarlet cloth; with large turbans of white or dark coloured cotton. Their horses were really beautiful, larger and more powerful than any thing found in Bornou, and they managed them with great skill. The sultan's guard was composed of thirty of his sons, all mounted on very superior horses, clothed in striped silk tobes; and the skin of the tiger-cat and leopard forming their shabracks, which hung fully over their horses' haunches. After these had returned to their station in front of the sultan, we approached at full speed in our turn, halting with the guard between us and the royal presence." - Dixon Denham (1786-1828), Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824


Mandara is in northern Cameroon, for anyone who was wondering where that is.

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/denham/denham7.jpg[/img]

"A Favorite of the Seraglio Accompanying a Military Expedition"

"Close in the rear of the maherhies follow the eunuchs and the harem; the sheikh takes but three wives, who are mounted, astride, on small trained horses, each led by a boy-slave, or eunuch, — their heads and figures completely enveloped in brown silk bornouses, and a eunuch riding by the side of each. The sultan of Bornou has five times as many attendants, and his harem is three times as numerous: he is attended, also, by men bearing trumpets (frumfrum), of hollow wood, ten and twelve feet long; with these a kind of music is kept up." - Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/denham/denham9.jpg[/img]

"Lancers of the Sultan of Begharmi"

"They were attended by more than a dozen slaves, bearing presents for us, King George, and the consul at Tripoli. I had applied for a lebida (horse covering), after seeing those taken from the Berghamis: the sheikh now sent a man, clothed in a yellow wadded jacket, with a scarlet cap, and mounted on the horse taken from the Berghamis, on which the sultan's oldest son rode. He was one of the finest horses I had seen; and covered with a scarlet cloth, also wadded." - Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824

The Baguirmi kingdom was located in Chad, for anyone wondering.

I found another, better picture of Barth's drawing of the view of the city of Timbuktu from a rooftop (in the 1850s), from a better website:

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/barth/barth8.jpg[/img]

“Timbúktu from the Terrace of the Traveller’s House”

"In order to obviate the effect of this want of exercise as much as possible, to enjoy fresh air and at the same time to become more familiar with the principal features of the town, through which I was not allowed to move about at pleasure, I ascended as often as possible the terrace of my house. This afforded an excellent view over the northern quarters of the town. On the north was the massive mosque of Sánkoré, which had just been restored to its former grandeur through the influence of the Sheik el Bakáy, and gave the whole place an imposing character. . . . [T]owards the east the view extended over a wide expanse of the desert, and towards the south the elevated mansions of the Ghadámsíye merchants were visible. The style of the buildings was various. I could see clay houses of different characters, some low and unseemly, others rising with a second story in front to greater elevation, and making even an attempt at architectural ornament, the whole being interrupted by a few round huts of matting. The sight of this spectacle afforded me sufficient matter of interest, although, the streets being very narrow, only little was to be seen of the intercourse carried on in them. . . . At the same time I became aware of the great inaccuracy which characterises the view of the town as given by M. Caillié. . . . the only error being that in his representation the whole town seems to consist of scattered and quite isolated houses, while, in reality, the streets are entirely shut in, as the dwellings form continuous and uninterrupted rows. - Heinrich Barth (1821-1865), Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.’s Government in the Years 1849-1855, Vol. 4, pp. 440-42

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/barth/barth3.jpg[/img]

“Kanó, from Mount Dalá / Febr 10th 1851”

"Kanó for us was a station of importance not only from a scientific but also from an economical point of view. Instead of being provided with ready cash, we had received in Múrzuk, on account of the British government, merchandise which, we had been assured, would not only be safer than money, but would also prove more advantageous for us. . . . [Hence] nothing could be more disagreeable and disheartening to me, though I was not quite unprepared for it, than the information which I received the very evening of my arrival in Kanó, that the price of merchandise such as I had was very low. . . . The distances in Kanó, though less than those of London, are very great; and the ceremonies to be gone through are scarcely less tedious than those at any European court. . . . [T]he whole scenery of the town in its great variety of clay houses, huts, sheds, green open places offering pasture for oxen, horses, camels, donkeys, and goats, in motley confusion, deep hollows containing ponds overgrown . . . the people in all varieties of costume, from the naked slave up to the most gaudily dressed Arab,— all formed a most animated and exciting scene." - Heinrich Barth, (1821-1865), T[i]ravels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.’s Government in the Years 1849-1855[/i], Vol. 2, pp. 97, 99, 101-3

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/owen/owen1.jpg[/img]

“A Hollontonte, Native of the Southern Side of the Mapoota River”

"The following description of their young chief Chinchingany will suffice, with a few exceptions, for that of the whole tribe. Round his head, just above the eyes, was a band of fur, somewhat resembling in size and colour a fox’s tail, neatly trimmed and smoothed. . . . [R]ound this circle was a thick ring of twisted hide, fixed in its position by the curling over of the surrounding hair, which was altogether sufficiently thick to resist a considerable blow. . . . On one side of his head was a single feather of some large bird as an emblem of his rank . . . Round his body were tied two strings, with twisted stripes of hide, with the hair on them, much resembling monkeys’ tails; the upper row was fastened close under the arms, and hung down about twelve inches, the end of each tail being cut with much precision and regularity; the lower row resembled the upper, and commenced exactly where the latter terminated, until they reached the knees. It bore altogether a great resemblance to the Scotch kilt. On his ankles and wrists he had brass rings or bangles. His shield was of bullock’s hide, about five feet long and three-and-a-half broad; down the middle was fixed a long stick, tufted with hair, by means of holes cut for the purpose, and projecting above and below beyond the shield about five inches. To this stick were attached his assagayes and spears; the only difference in these weapons is that the former is narrow in the blade and small for throwing, the latter broad and long, with a stronger staff for the thrust. . . . [T]his [costume] is entirely military, and used only when upon warlike expeditions." - Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar, Performed in H.M. Ships Leven and Barracouta (1833), Vol. 1, pp. 93-95

The man in the drawing is a Khoisan man from southern Africa.

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/gardiner/gardiner6.jpg[/img]

“Amatembu Man & Woman / Zoolus in Their War Dress”

"The war-dress consists of a thick, full kilt, composed of cats’ tails, descending nearly to the knee, the shoulders and upper part of the body are decorated with the long hair of ox tails, and the head is protected by an otter skin cap; the whole has a very martial appearance. . . . The shield is made of ox hide, with a stick secured down the middle, and ornamented at one end with leopard’s fur, it reaches from the ground to about the mouth of a moderate sized person; in windy and in wet weather they are almost useless, and, in the latter case, are frequently rolled up when on a march." - Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country, in South Africa. 1836., pp. 101, 103

[img]http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/livingstone/livingstone2-3.jpg[/img]

“Dance of Landeens, or Zulus, Arrived at Shupanga to Lift the Annual Tribute of the Portuguese”

"The Landeens or Zulus are lords of the right bank of the Zambesi; and the Portuguese, by paying this fighting tribe a pretty heavy annual tribute, practically admit this. Regularly every year come the Zulus in force to Senna and Shupanga for their accustomed tribute. The few wealthy merchants of Senna groan under the burden, for it falls chiefly on them. They submit to pay annually 200 pieces of cloth, of sixteen yards each, besides beads and brass wire, knowing that refusal involves war, which might end in the loss of all they possess." - Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864, p. 30

The image above is of the Ngoni Zulus. "Landeen" was just a term that the Portuguese used to refer to any group of Zulus.

[img]http://raai.library.yale.edu/web/art/2/5/42902_images_image_2579_medium.jpg[/img]

Publication: 1897. Ratzel, Friedrich (transl. A. J. Butler). The History of Mankind, Vol. II.

Caption: Spoons: 1,2 Mambunda; 3,4, Zulu; 5,6, Bechuana; 7,8, no certain information - old pieces from the Lichtenstein Collection (Berlin Museum)

Illustrator: , unsigned

Illustration technique: studio engraving

Keywords:
• South Africa (Country, region, place)
• Zimbabwe (Country, region, place)
• Southern Africa (Country, region, place)
• pigment (Materials and techniques)
• wood (Materials and techniques)
• antelope (Notable features)
• bird's head (Notable features)
• cow (Notable features)
• janus (Notable features)
• quadruped (Notable features)
• zebra ? (Notable features)
• decorative (Notable features)
• figurated handle (Notable features)
• ladel (Object name, type)
• animals (Object name, type)
• spoon (Object name, type)
• Ndebele (Style, culture group)
• Tswana (Style, culture group)

[img]http://raai.library.yale.edu/web/art/2/2/4711_images_image_2274_medium.jpg[/img]

Publication: 1906. Luschan, Felix von. "Bericht über eine Reise in Südafrika." Zeitschrift für Ethnologie; Organ der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte., Vol. 38 Jahrgang, No. Heft VI.

Original language: German

Caption translation: Vulture and cylindrical form made from stone of unknown origin, Simbabwe. From photograph by Dr. Haevernick. 1890

Illustrator: Dr. Haevernick,

Illustration technique: b/w studio photograph

Keywords:
• Great Zimbabwe (Country, region, place)
• soapstone (Materials and techniques)
• bird (Notable features)
• figurated finial (Notable features)
• ornamental (Notable features)
• vulture (Notable features)
• sculpture (Object name, type)
• Ndebele (Style, culture group)
• Shona (Style, culture group)

[img]http://raai.library.yale.edu/web/art/2/3/54346_images_image_2337_medium.jpg[/img]

Publication: 1906. Staudinger. "Diskussion über den Vortrag des Hrn. von Luschan." Zeitschrift für Ethnologie; Organ der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte., Vol. 38 Jahrgang, No. Heft VI.

Text translation: “If one looks closer at the beautifully reproduced piece here (fig. 5), one finds two figures on the upper part of the column, just below the main depictions, that appear not to be consistent with the character of the whole. One of the figures, an antelope, stands on its head i.e. is depicted upside down on the sculpture.” (p. 919)

Illustration technique: b/w studio photograph

Keywords:
• Great Zimbabwe (Country, region, place)
• soapstone (Materials and techniques)
• antelope (Notable features)
• bovine (Notable features)
• missing head (Notable features)
• broken (Notable features)
• upside-down figure (Notable features)
• vulture (Notable features)
• bird sculpture (Object name, type)
• figurated finial (Object name, type)
• Ndebele (Style, culture group)
• Shona (Style, culture group)

Thank GOD for science and civilization

chucky234: Thank GOD for science and civilization

^^
and what is that supposed to mean??

It seems pyguru has arrested PhysicsMHD and QED

Ishilove: It seems pyguru has arrested PhysicsMHD and QED

Not to worry dear
Seun will soon pardon him

Cape Coast and Bornu looked great as well - how the mighty has fallen!!

Great job, brother Physics...

esere826:
^^
and what is that supposed to mean??

Too bad you can't figure that out yourself

^^^

Thank God and my special type of civilization
that I am able to soak-in information in a broader way

Ishilove: It seems pyguru has arrested PhysicsMHD and QED

esere826:

Not to worry dear
Seun will soon pardon him

I'm back.

Odumchi undid what the spambot did, so I'll be posting some more images in this thread today and then I'll return to the thread a while from now when I come across some more interesting images.

shymexx: Great job, brother Physics...

Thanks.

shymexx: Cape Coast and Bornu looked great as well - how the mighty has fallen!!

There are some even better images of the 19th century Ashanti architecture that I found on this blog that I visit occassionally:

http://exploring-africa..com/2010/03/before-ruins.html

^^^

The only errors in that post are that he takes the image of Loango from Dapper's publication as being a totally accurate representation (it was from the engraver's imagination based on Dapper's description) and when he misidentifies a sketch of the architecture of a building in Timbuktu (by R. Caillié, which I posted earlier in this thread) as being "an undated sketch of the City of Kano architecture." Other than that, it's a good post.

Also he actually doesn't mention some places in west and central Africa that we know from centuries old writings and from archaeology had impressive architectural structures. They were probably not mentioned because there is a lack of available pictures and drawings (that blog post does focus on images) which properly highlight the architecture of those places.

I was a little sarcastic before, but some of these pictures actually do look like they might be phallic symbols.

There is precedent for this because in many other civilizations such symbols were usually designed as pillars and often took the shape of a bird.

Now look at roman phallic symbolism that is also designed to pass as a bird.

[img]http://raai.library.yale.edu/web/art/2/0/91090_images_image_2090_medium.jpg[/img]

Publication: 1899. Schlichter, Henry. "Travels and Researches in Rhodesia." The Geographical Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4, April.


Caption: Zimbabye Dish, Showing a number of zodiacal and other astronomical signs. Measurements: Diameter, right to left, 14 3/4 inches; diameter, top to bottom, 13 inches; outside depth, 5 3/4 inches; inside depth, near centre, 2 1/2 inches. 1. Gemini 2. Empty Space Standing for Cancer (Constellation introduced at a later period of antiquity) 3. Leo (?) 4. Virgo 5. Libra 6. Scorpio 7. Milky Way (Sagittarius) 8. Capricornus (fish-tailed goat) 9. Aquarius 10. Sun Image 11. Orion (Hunter) 12. Taurus. The Crocodile is taken to indicate the northern circumpolar constellation (Compare Lockyer, "Dawn of Astronomy," 1894, p. 150)

Keywords:
• Zimbabwe (Country, region, place)
• wood (Materials and techniques)
• carved (Materials and techniques)
• astonomical symbols (Notable features)
• crocodile (Notable features)
• reptile (Notable features)
• zodiac signs (Notable features)
• bowl (Object name, type)
• divination dish (Object name, type)
• Shona (Style, culture group)

@ pleep, I am not familiar with what it is exactly that vultures or other types of birds represented in Shona mythology or traditional religion, but in the absence of evidence that there was some sort of s3xual connotation to them, doesn't it seem a bit presumptuous to assume that the soapstone bird pillars were phallic? You could be right, and it could be phallic, but then again, your assumption could be completely wrong. Maybe you should try and get some supporting evidence.