IDNO

N.19434.ROS

Description

Group portrait of Nuwa Mbaguta, Nganzi of Ankole, and his family; including probably his son and two women, possibly Mbaguta's wife and daughter. Mbaguta and his son? wear kanzus (white tunic), and Mbaguta also wears a hat and holds a staff. The women wear two robes, "one round her body and the other thrown over her head and descending to her feet.” (Roscoe 1922, p.65) In the background there is an elephant grass picket fence (possibly of the Royal enclosure?) and a building with a corrugated iron roof. [ED 05/09/2007]
[The names in this description were updated after Nuwa Mbaguta was identified by Andrea Stultiens, Leiden University, JD 30/11/2020]

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Ankole

Cultural Affliation

?Banyankole

Named Person

Nuwa Mbaguta, Nganzi of Ankole (d. 1944); formerly identified as Apolo Kagwa (Sir) (Prime Minister) (1865 - 1927)

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 C31/59/ by the cataloguer. The envelope was kept in box marked C31/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Named Person: This photograph was previously identified as "Apolo Kagwa (Sir) (Prime Minister) (1865 - 1927)", but Dr. Andrea Stultiens has identified the man as Nuwa Mbaguta, Ankole Katikiro's contemporary and counterpart in neighbouring Ankole Kingdom. Two portraits of Nuwa Mbaguta by Dr. A. T. Schofield, 1927, on Stultiens' HIPUganda website confirms this identification. The Description and Named Person fields have been amended accordingly. [Information provided by Dr. Andrea Stultiens, Leiden University,
http://www.hipuganda.org, JD 30/11/2020]

Bibliographical Reference: ‪‪Samwiri Rubaraza Karugire‪‬, 1973. 'Nuwa Mbaguta' (‬East African Literature Bureau, Ankole (Uganda))‬. [JD 30/11/2020]

Clothing: The kanzu "was introduced by the Arabs and, despite its Islamic associations, was favored by the missionaries as the most suitable garb for converts.” [Source: www.martynmission.cam.ac.uk/ CDrum.htm]. A Bahima woman traditionally wears "two cowskin robes, one round her body and the other thrown over her head and descending to her feet” (Roscoe 1922, p. 65). [ED 12/9/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 24/10/2007]