IDNO

P.57262.RDG

Description

Half-length portrait of a Maasai woman with shaved hair, a head ornament of two strands of chains with clusters of chain drops, chain ear ornaments, ornaments of brass spirals attached by leather straps to the ears, bead and chain neck ornaments, and rows of brass rings around both upper and lower arms. She wears a plain cloth toga-style. The woman holds what appears to be a framed mirror and appears to be looking in the surface.

Place

E Africa; Kenya; Eastern Province

Cultural Affliation

Kamba [historically Akamba]; Maasai [historically Masai]

Named Person

Photographer

Young, William D. [Photograph Studio]

Collector / Expedition

Ridgeway, William

Date

circa 1890 - 1920

Collection Name

Ridgeway Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.57261.RDG to P.57273.RDG were found in C274/2/ which came from C274/. The latter was kept in Wooden Drawer VI.

Place: Entry previously record ‘Kamba’ as place but research shows that the term applies to a cultural group. The two fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 4/10/2006]

Group: The Kamba (Mukamba in singular Akamba in the plural) are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. This land is called Ukamba or land of the Akamba. Depending on the source, they are either the third or the fifth largest ethnic group in Kenya. They speak the Kikamba language. [Source: Ethnologue Online 15th Edition, JD 4/10/2006]

Group: Maasai is a language group of Kenya spoken in Kajiado and Narok districts and Rift Valley District. [Source: Ethnologue Online 15th Edition, JD 19/6/2007]

Biographical Information: See Biographies file for information on William D. Young. [JD 14/6/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [JD 2/7/2007]

Publication: The photograph has been digitised for the European Collected Library of Artistic Performance (ECLAP) and is accessible on the portal http://www.eclap.eu/drupal/. [SG 30/10/2012]