Institutional metadata
Object Name/s
photographic print (black and white)
Technique/s
photographic process
Description (full)
Photograph (black and white), from an album; view of a shrine within structure; compressed earth sculptures depicting centrally a male figure in coral bead regalia with hands supported by attendants wearing white waist wrappers. Two seated female figures in front: figure at left proper is breast-feeding child. Both have scarification patterns on their bodies. Stacked pots at back of shrine; wood ancestral rattle staffs leaning against pile of stones in front of central figure. Model fish at back of shrine. Southern Nigeria.
Albumen print.
Dimension/s
Length: 13.95 cm~Width: 19.80 cm
Previous Owner
Previous owner/ex-collection: Arthur Henry Prest
Prod. Place/s
Photographed in: Nigeria (south)
Assoc. Ethnic Name/s
Representation of: Edo
Assoc. Place/s
Associated with: Benin City (?)
Inscription/s
Inscription:~ Inscription details: annotation~ Inscription quoted: Album Title: "1st BENIN. WARRI. & SAPELE. 2nd NEW CALABAR. BONNY. OPOBO & QUA COUNTRY." [manuscript note on album paper].
Original Description: "Ju Ju for good or evil" [manuscript note on album paper].
Curator's Comment/s
The deity depicted may be Olokun (god of the sea and fertility), although he is normally represented with a white face. The fish at the back of shrine indicate the undersea realm. (pers.communication N F Barley, 04/06/1996.) This photograph joins Af,A46.13 on the left proper side.~The photographs in collections Af,A46 and Af,A47 were originally contained in single album containing 176 photographs.
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A46-12