IDNO

N.18966.ROS

Description

Two Bagesu men standing in front of an elephant grass fence, one wearing a skin, the other wearing white cloth.
The man to the left wears a metal bracelet and what is probably a goat skin worn in the traditional Bagesu manner. In Roscoe’s words: "Two of the legs were joined with a skin about a foot long. The skin was put under the right arm and the string was passed over the head on to the left shoulder, so that the left side was completely exposed, though the skin covered the right side and reached halfway down the thighs” (Roscoe, 1924, p. 5). The man to the right appears to have an ear ornament? in his left ear. There is also a man in the background wearing a white cloth tied in the toga-fashion.

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Elgon; Mount Elgon

Cultural Affliation

Bagesu

Named Person

Photographer

?Roscoe, John R.

Collector / Expedition

Roscoe, John R. [Mackie Ethnological Expedition, Uganda, 1919 - 1920]

Date

1919 - 1920

Collection Name

Roscoe Collection

Source

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in an envelope marked C29/137/ by the cataloguer. The envelope was kept in box marked C29/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Publication: Similar image published in Roscoe, J., 1922. The Soul of Central Africa: An Account of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition. (London: Cassell and Co.). p. 244 with the caption "Bagesu men, showing dress”. [ED 21/9/2007]

Clothing: "The clothing of the people was never intended either for warmth or covering. Before initiation a boy went naked, but when his initiation was complete, he was entitled to wear the dress of a full-grown man, which consisted of a skin, usually a goat-skin. Two of the legs were joined with a skin about a foot long. The skin was put under the right arm and the string was passed over the head on to the left shoulder, so that the left side was completely exposed, though the skin covered the right side and reached halfway down the thighs. If a man refused to undergo the ceremony of initiation, he was not allowed to wear this skin, to marry, or to sit in the council of the men” (Roscoe, 1924, p.5). [ED 21/9/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 19/12/2007]