IDNO

N.19436.ROS

Description

Group portrait of Apolo Kagwa, the Katikkiro (Prime Minister), and his family; including probably his son, Blasio and two women, possibly Kagwa’s wife and daughter. Kagwa and his son wear kanzus (white tunic), and Kagwa 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.

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Ankole

Cultural Affliation

?Banyankole

Named Person

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 C31/61/ 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.

Context: "Sir Apolo Kagwa, the long-time Katikkiro of Buganda was a close personal friend of Roscoe. It was to Roscoe that Kagwa entrusted his eldest son Blasio, whom he sent to England for education after the turn of the century. And it was to Kagwa that Roscoe turned to aid and advice in carrying out the detailed ethnographical survey, published in 1911 under the title: The Baganda: An Account of their Native Customs and Beliefs. (London: Macmillan and Co. Limited).” [Source: Journal of African History 8 (1): 163 - 166]. [ED 12/9/2007]

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]