Description (Labels & Markings)
Thomas label adhered to drum reads: '451 | 387 / Drum (ufie), wood, large, two square holes joined by narrow slit on top; one end notched at edge. / Obu'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Large wooden drum, two square holes joined by narrow slit on top, notched at edge on end.

Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Labels & Markings)
Luggage tag attached with string reads (water damaged): '387 / Ufie'
in second hand: '387'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

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

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

Event Date 29/8/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Large wooden slit drum with hollowed centre. There is a narrow slit along the length of the drum, with a larged rectangular opening at either end. There is a groove carved below one of these openings, and a band of decoration along a quarter of the circumference.
Event Date 29/8/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Loan (Exhibition)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London, 14/10/2020 to 19/12/2020, [Re:]Entanglements
Event Date 14/10/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2020.4963 | Remedial
Event Date 26/11/2020
Author: Stefanie Mueller

Context (Display)
On display in [Re:]Entanglements: Colonial collections in decolonial times 22 June 2021 – 20 April 2022.
The open-display plinth recreated the objects featured in a fieldwork photograph in Obu by Northcote Thomas (MAA P.31227).

The display text noted '[Re:]Assemblage. Assembling collections of artefacts was a key part of the anthropological surveys led by Northcote Thomas. During their fieldwork with Igbo-speaking communities in 1910-11, Thomas and his assistants arranged artefacts in front of a canvas backdrop and photographed them as they were collected.
Everyday objects like cooking utensils and storage baskets were placed alongside musical instruments, political regalia, masks and shrine figures. Each item had a label attached with a number, its local name and a brief description of its use. A yam grater was treated no differently to the staff of an ozo title holder.
The canvas sheet was intended to isolate the objects from their local contexts. Our restaging, with its eye-catching backdrop designed by artist Alafuro Sikoki, draws attention to the context of colonial collecting.'
Event Date 27/4/2022
Author: Flo Sutton

Description (Physical description)
Ufie. Large wooden slit drum with hollowed centre. There is a narrow slit along the length of the drum, with a larger rectangular opening at either end. There is a groove carved below one of these openings, and a band of decoration along a quarter of the circumference at one end.
Event Date 26/1/2023
Author: Eleanor Beestin-Sheriff