IDNO

P.57266.RDG

Description

Full-length studio portrait of four Maasai men in warrior clothing and holding spears and decorated shields. The men wear headdresses with the two on the left made from ostrich feather fringing around the face, and the two on the right having upright lion mane fur projections. Two of the men wear pelts as cloaks and one wearing a cloth as a cape. All have combinations of ear ornaments, chain neck ornaments with attached talismans, bead neck ornaments, and two have metal arm ornaments with two upright projections, and metal wrist ornaments. All four appear to have braided and ochre anointed hair with three having the fringe gathered into a knot at the forehead. The studio backdrop is painted with a European style forest.

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]

Context: The climax of warriorhood was killing of a lion and the warrior then graduated from wearing an ostrich headdress to a lion made one. It was used during raids and wars as it gives the physical advantage of height and the wearer looks scarier and braver.
Today such headdresses are used for ceremonial functions and dances since killing of lions is prohibited by law." [Information provided by Njeri Gachihi, Rethinking Relationships Project, 15 December 2020, JD 04/03/2021]

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

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]

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