Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Roy Sieber photographs EEPA 1985-011, circa 1965

Summary

Collection ID:
EEPA.1985-011
Creators:
Sieber, Roy, 1923-2001
Dates:
circa 1965
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
65 Slides (photographs)
(dupes)
color
Repository:
Photographs taken by Roy Sieber. Images of African textile and the dyeing and weaving processes. Objects depicted include Asante Kente cloth, Hausa embroidered pants, Jukun tie-dye waist cloth, a Kuba hat, Yoruba indigo dye and a Zulu cloak, as well as akwete cloth from Nigeria, an appliqué dress from Cameroon, an appliqué robe from Ghana, cloth from Dahomey (now Benin) and dye pots from Ede. People portrayed include a Dogon dancer, Kajiado warriors with spears and shields, a weaver making cloth, and women dyeing cloth with indigo.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Images indexed by negative number.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Early American historian of African art Roy Sieber (1923-2001) is considered the founder of the discipline of African art history in the United States. He graduated from the New School for Social Research in New York in 1949, earned his M.A. at the University of Iowa (1951) and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University (1951), where he taught art history from 1950 to 1962. He joined Indiana University as an associate professor in 1962, one of the original scholars in the University's nascent African Studies Program as the Rudy Professor of Fine Arts. Sieber worked as the Associate Director for Collections and Research at the National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian Institution) from 1983 to 1993, where he was responsible for evaluating collection research and developing acquisition standards. Sieber received the first Leadership Award from the Arts Council of the African Studies Association in 1986.
Througout his career Sieber produced significant publications and served as lecturer and visiting professor at several universities in Africa as well as the United States. He was a member of the American Council of Learned Societies/Social Science Research Council Joint Committee on Africa between 1963 and 1971 and later the African Studies Association and the primitive art advisory committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Administration

Author
Paul Wood
Custodial History note
Donated by Roy Sieber, 1985.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Conditions Governing Access note
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Zulu (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hausa (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asante (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dogon (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Textile fabrics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mali Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Color slides Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kuba (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Benin Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dyes and dyeing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cameroon Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ghana Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Adamson, Glenn Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 708
Washington, DC 20013-7012
elisofonarchives@si.edu