Context (Display)
Canoe (in sections 1920.308 Z.1-16 and presumably also the paddles 1920.308 A-X/Roscoe and ornaments 1920.308 Y.1-3/Roscoe) previously displayed in the Keyser Hall, MAA, at an unknown date.
See display label for E 1901.253.1-7 (stored with catalogue cards) which notes 'MODEL CANOE./ WITH WOODEN BALER & [AND] SIX PADDLES./ SIR H. JOHNSTON. VICTORIA NYANZA. UGANDA./ (SEE SPECIMEN OF A SIMILAR CANOE IN THE/ KEYSER HALL)'.
Event Date
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Found together / assemblage)
1920.308 Z.1-16/Roscoe are all parts of the same canoe. In addition 1920.308 A-X/Roscoe are the accompanying paddles for the canoe and 1920.308 Y.1-3/Roscoe and the ornaments which would have been attached to the canoe.
Event Date
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

Context (Found together / assemblage)
Catalogue card for ROS 1920.308 reads: 'Canoe, in 8 sections, made of planks. The canoe has a rounded bottom, but no keel. The planks are sewn together with wicker and the seams are caulked with bark. There are seats for the men to sit on. These project through the sides and form knobs. These act as collision mats. The canoe has a curved beak projecting for several yards in front, to keep the boat off reefs (and also to act as a ram)?). The end of the beak is covered with leather. The seat near the bow projects through each side to form two long spikes.
The (24) paddles (these have been labelled A-X) are spear-shaped, and there is a tuft of crimson feathers to put on the bow. Baganda. Two detachable antelope horns are included for sticking into the bow.'
Event Date 1920
Author: Kirsty Kernohan

Context (Display)
The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge Annual Report, 1977-78 noted that as part of the Museum's redevelopment the 'Baganda canoe was dismantled, for removal to Shorts’, the new off-site storage. It had previously been exhibited, most likely in the African Babington Gallery, for many years, and possibly since the Gallery's opening in February 1923
Event Date 1978
Author: Rachel Hand

Description (Physical description)
Stern section of canoe made of planks. The canoe has a rounded bottom, but no keel. The planks are sewn together with wicker and the seams are caulked with bark.
Event Date 16/8/2018
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

Context (Amendments / updates)
The Roscoe Collection catalogued in 1920 was given numbers 1920.1 - 1920.480. These are not Accession Register numbers, and conflict with numbers allocated to other artefacts accessioned in 1920. They do not appear under any other number in any Accession Register and the only documentation for them is their catalogue cards. In 2001 they were given the temporary suffix ‘/Roscoe’ to distinguish them. This has now been replaced with the prefix ‘ROS’.
Event Date 22/11/2023
Author: Lucie Carreau

Description (Physical description)
Bow section of canoe made of wooden planks. The planks are sewn together with plant fibre and string and the seams are caulked with bark. The canoe has a rounded bottom. There is a bench seat which is attached through holes in the side of the canoe and extends to a long point of wood on each side of the bow. The base of the bow is a long straight section of wood which extends to a point beyond the front of the canoe. It has a rounded base and a flat top for the addition of prow section ROS 1920.308 Z.16.
Event Date 16/2/2024
Author: Kirsty Kernohan