Context (CMS Context)
See Spooner photo no. 1 in Collection file for object in Spooner family home.
Event Date 26/10/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
The Spooner Collection was acquired by Arthur Casswell Spooner (1906-1996) during his colonial service in West Africa between 1929-1963, and also by his wife Sylvia from 1944. Following the Cambridge Colonial Service diploma (Clare College, 1928-9), he was posted to the Gold Coast in July 1929 as a Cadet in the Administrative Service. He was soon appointed Assistant District Commissioner and served in various areas of Ashanti and the Northern Territories until 1938. His tasks comprised office and court work as well as much travelling through the district.

In 1939 Spooner was seconded as Commissioner of the Labour Department in Kumasi, and in 1942 was appointed Assistant Director of Labour, General Headquarters West African Command, involved in raising Pioneer Groups in Sierra Leone and Nigeria primarily for the North African campaign. He was a member of the Gold Coast Defence Force and in 1942 appointed as a temporary Lieutenant Colonel. He married Sylvia Blest in Accra in 1944 and she accompanied him on all his postings. In 1945 he returned to the Administrative Service, and was appointed Senior District Commissioner, Ashanti, in 1946 and in 1951 Assistant Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast He retired in 1952, returning to the UK to work for Eastbury Estates Ltd.

He returned to Africa in 1956, working for the Gambian Government in the Establishments and Training Department until 1959. From 1961 to 1963 he was employed by the Government of Northern Nigeria to run the Resident's offices in Makurdi and Ilorin.

Following discussion with MAA from 2005 onwards the object and photograph collections were donated in 2015 by Sylvia's son Professor Edward T. Spooner per the Spooner family, with material also going to the teaching collections.

Arthur Spooner's correspondence and papers, 1928-95, are held at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. Several items (including Konkomba dancing hats), copies of photographs and their associated copyright and a telegram relevant to the purchase of Sylvia Spooner's wedding ring were also given to the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum c.2008.
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
Notes by Arthur Spooner typed by his wife, Sylvia
read: ‘Carved for ACS by Chief Bempah in Kumasi round about 1932. He was responsible for many of the carvings made for the Wembley Exhibition. This was the British Empire Exhibition which took place in 1924.
It is a pity that these have been carved in ‘sese’ wood which is too brittle for this type of carving as fingers and toes break off. ‘Sese’ is the wood used for making Ashanti stools. Two Ashanti stools carved at the village of Pancronn [sp?], a few miles from Kumassi are in this collection. Pancronn was the centre of the stool carving industry. There are a number of designs which are illustrated in ‘Religion and Art in Ashanti’ by R.S.Rattray. These two stools appear to be fig. 165- Kontonkorowi- ‘the circular rainbow stool’. There is a picture of Rattray opposite page 28 in the above mentioned book. The stools [were] bought before 1939-1944 war’.
See note in no. s’ Actually No. 1 mentioned above was blacked by Chief Bempah.’ R. v.d. Velden, 07/09/2015.
Event Date 7/9/2015
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Carved wooden figure of a woman, in light coloured wood. The wood has split down the right hand side of the face, neck and belly. Further splits between the centre of the buttocks and proper left arm and wrist. Proper right underarm broken off and glued back together. The figure is missing several toes. White sticker with number '2' under proper left foot. White mark with number '2' under proper right foot. These are Spooner collection numbers.
Event Date 7/9/2015
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
A wooden figure of a woman carved by Chief Bempah in Kumasi around 1932. The figure wears three neck rings and stands upright with their arms at each side. The wood has been stained light brown and has a highly polished finish.
Event Date 7/9/2021
Author: Annie Tomkins