Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Bida, Nigeria (Nupe) photographs, EEPA 1997-014, 1900-1905

Summary

Collection ID:
EEPA.1997-014
Dates:
1900-1905
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
146 Negatives (photographic)
dupe negs
black & white
4 x 5 in.
146 Photographic prints
dupe prints (2 v.)
black & white
8 x 10 in.
67 Photographic prints
albumen
black & white
25 x 30 cm.
79 Photographic prints
(1 box)
black & white
16 x 11 cm. or smaller
Repository:
Container:
146
1
1
2
Photographs belonging to the fiancée of Mr. A.E. Ball, a missionary with the Church Missionary Society in Bida, Nigeria (Nupe). While she was waiting for him in England, he sent numerous photographs with penciled explanations to her, which she kept even after the engagement had ended. Many of the images appear to be the work of A.W. Banfield, a Canadian missionary and a contemporary of A.E. Ball, whose photographs are now in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Identical images are found in Banfield's book,
Life Among the Nupe Tribe,
(1905). Twenty-five of the images are portraits of African men and women in the style and size of cartes de visite. Many more of the images include group photographs of Africans and Europeans. A third subject found among the images is architecture. These images include Nupe buildings in Bida, a cathedral in the Canary Islands, a mosque and the High Commissioner's bungalow in Zumgeru.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Images indexed by negative number.

Administration

Author
Paul Wood
Custodial History note
Purchased, 1997. Conserved through a preservation grant funded by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2006.

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
Fulbe (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bida (Nigeria) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hausa (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nupe (African people) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form 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