Description (Labels & Markings)
Thomas label adhered to back reads: '155 | 2501 / Doll, male, elaborately carved with face, arms and legs, beads on headf, arms and waist. (omorha). / Irua'
in different hand: 'Z 12737'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Field collection)
Collected by Northcote W. Thomas in Edo State, Irua (now Irrua) town. The inhabitants belong to the Edo ethnic group, and also identify themselves further as Esan people. The language they speak is referred to as Esan. Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. November 2012.
Purchased using money from Prof. A.A. Bevan’s subscription to the Museum’s Accessions Fund.

Event Date
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (Amendments / updates)
NB. Black and white photograph of object attached to back of catalogue card.
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Doll, male, elaborately carved, face, arms and legs with beads on head, arms and waist.

Event Date 4/7/2000
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria.
Event Date 7/5/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Metal chain around the left ankle. Fragments of string attached to head ?for beads. Cracks in the wood on the body and the head. [K. Sutton]
Event Date 5/6/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Northcote Thomas ‘Doll, male elaborately carved with face arms and legs. Beads on head, arms and wrists. Omorha.’ Interesting piece, profusely decorated on the face, which may be face markings. Criss cross marks on the chest. Male wooden figure. An ovoid shape runs down from the navel to the genitalia, with criss cross hatches within the ovoid shape. The same design is visible between the navel ad the neck but larger. The figure has thick legs. Thighs, knees, calves and feet are very angular. Blue glass beads are strung around the waist. The left leg has an anklet/metal chain around it. The head is flat with cross-hatchings over the top of it. The forehead has holes from which dark blue beads hang, some of which are now missing. At one time these may have covered the whole head. A red bead is attached to the neck of the figure ?by the museum staff. The arms drop down to the waist, and a string of beads is visible around the left arm. The face is profusely carved with three vertical lines running down each eye. The face is flat, the nose and mouth being the highest points. The sides of the eyes are incised with five lines that are reminiscent of the cat’s whiskers, which are face mark common among the Nupe in the 19th century and run all the way to the ears. The back of the figure holds body markings that run from the shoulder to the waist. Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. November 2012.
Event Date 4/12/2012
Author: maa

Context (Amendments / updates)
Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Event Date 13/7/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Wooden doll carefully carved: facial scarification and hatched markings on torso, at groin and on crown of head. Round, dark blue glass beads attached to head, lighter blue cylindrical beads around arm, spherical light blue beads around waist, a single red bead attached around neck with fine string and a metal chain around one ankle. Holes around the crown of the head, some with string attached, suggest that more beads are missing. The toes of one foot have been historically broken off.
Event Date 13/7/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2021.4996 | Remedial
Event Date 8/4/2021
Author: Stefanie Mueller

Description (Physical description)
Omocha. Carved wooden male doll, with incised facial features and scarification and hatched markings on torso, at groin and on crown of head. Rounded, protruding belly button. String of small dark blue glass beads attached to the head, lighter blue cylindrical beads around arm, larger spherical light blue beads around waist, a single red bead attached around neck with fine string and a metal chain around the left ankle.
Event Date 17/10/2022
Author: Eleanor Beestin-Sheriff

Context (Display)
Exhibited in [Re:]Entanglements: Colonial collections in decolonial times, MAA, 22 June 2021 – 20 April 2022.

The text noted:
'Anthropological entanglements
The anthropological surveys of Nigeria and Sierra Leone led by Northcote Thomas between 1909 and 1915 were intended to contribute to the work of colonial administration. Thomas was, however, criticised by the colonial authorities for pursuing research that had little ‘practical value’ in this respect.
As an anthropologist, Thomas had more general interests in comparing human societies and cultural practices. Take, for instance, these dolls collected by Thomas and his assistants in Nigeria.
Like string games, dolls are played with by children all over the world. But Thomas was interested in what makes a doll a doll. How are dolls distinct from other representations of the human form such as ‘magical figurines’ or ‘idols’? Can they be regarded as being alive in some way?Anthropology was certainly entangled in colonial power relations. But what does this mean when it comes to seeking to learn about cultural differences and similarities?

CAPTION
Northcote Thomas had wide-ranging anthropological interests. His research on dolls pre-dated his appointment as ‘Government Anthropologist’. This questionnaire on dolls was published in 1906 in the journal Man.

LINK
https://re-entanglements.net/dolls'

Event Date 3/5/2022
Author: Flo Sutton