Context (Related Documents)
See Spooner photo no. 5 in Collection file for object in Spooner family home.
Event Date 26/10/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden

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Context (Related Documents)
See Spooner photo no. 4 in Collection file for object in Spooner family home.
Event Date 26/10/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.1: 'Light wooden carved figure of a male Ntumpane drummer wearing a black cloth from the waist down.
A circular white mark on the bottom of the right foot with the number '9' written on it indicates the Spooner Collection number. Also marked on the left foot with a paper label with the same number. Several toes on the proper right foot have broken off. 120mm x 100mm x 330mm'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.4: 'Drum stick made out of a twig, L-shaped. To be inserted into the hands of 2015.242.1. 94mm x 25mm x 4mm'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.3: 'Wooden carved drum with linear designs. Djembe shape, with three nodules on the side. Two holes on the side are for inserting two sticks (2015.242.6-9) to make the drum stand upright. 70mm x 60mm x 168mm'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.2: 'Wooden carved drum with linear designs. Djembe shape. With two nodules on the side, 1 other has broken off. Two holes on the side are for inserting two sticks (2015.242.6-9) to make the drum stand upright. 70mm x 80mm x 170mm'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Context (Found together / assemblage)
2015.242.1-2015.242.9 form a scene of a drummer with two drums and drum sticks.
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Remke van der Velden

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Context (Acquisition Details)
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

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Context (Related Documents)
Notes by Arthur Spooner typed by his wife, Sylvia read: 'A Ntumpane drummer carved for ACS by Osei Bonsu in Gorsa/Ahafo in 1930/31. He later taught carving at Achimota'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.9: 'Wooden, roughly L-shaped, support to be inserted into drums 2015.242.2 and 2015.242.3 so these can stand upright. A white paper, possibly original, has been wrapped around the end of the support that enters the drum. Red resin on surface of support. 102mm x 45mm x 10mm.'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.8: 'Wooden, roughly L-shaped, support to be inserted into drums 2015.242.2 and 2015.242.3 so these can stand upright. White paper, possibly not original, has been wrapped around the end of the support that enters the drum. Red resin on surface of support. 100mm x 35mm x 10mm.'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.7: 'Wooden, roughly L-shaped, support to be inserted into drums 2015.242.2 and 2015.242.3 so these can stand upright. A white paper, possibly not original, has been wrapped around the end of the support that enters the drum. This end looks like it may have broken in the past and been repaired. Red resin on surface of support. 105mm x 40mm x 10mm.'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.6: 'Wooden, roughly L-shaped, support to be inserted into drums 2015.242.2 and 2015.242.3 so these can stand upright. A white cloth has been wrapped around the end of the support that enters the drum. Red resin on surface of support. 102mm x 30mm x 10mm. '
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Description (Physical description)
Description for 2015.242.5: 'Drum stick made out of a twig, L-shaped. To be inserted into the hands of 2015.242.1. 85mm x 28mm x 5mm'
Event Date 21/9/2015
Author: Sam Daisley

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Context (References)
Photographed as part of the Art UK Sculpture project, August - September 2019. The project aims to create a free-to-access online photographic showcase of publicly owned sculpture. The three-year project focuses on sculpture dating from the last 1,000 years, held in public collections and outdoor locations across the UK



Event Date 3/6/2020
Author: rachel hand

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Description (Physical description)
Sculpture by Osei Bonsu. Carved wooden figure of a male Ntumpane drummer wearing a black waist cloth holding two detachable drum sticks made of twigs. Two drums of Djembe shape with linear designs and rounded projections, each resting on two detachable wooden supports.
Event Date 7/9/2021
Author: Sam Daisley

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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2024.5852 | Assessment Only
Event Date 2/2/2024
Author: Stephanie De Roemer

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Description (Physical description)
Conversations with Ed Sponer during the donation recalled that his father Edward noted Osei Bonsu used black boot polish to darken wood to a mahogany-like patina that appealed to European
Event Date 5/3/2024
Author: Rachel Hand

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Conservation (Infill and retouching)
CON.2024.6018 | Infill and retouching
Event Date 5/9/2024
Author: Stephanie De Roemer

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Loan (Exhibition)
Fitzwilliam Museum (UCM), 21/2/2025 to 1/6/2025, Black Atlantic II: Resistance, Revolution and Reform
Event Date 21/2/2025
Author: Rachel Hand